Australia Taxation

Australian compliance runs continuously. Business activity statements fall monthly or quarterly, PAYG instalments follow the ATO's schedule, superannuation is due quarterly with a hard deadline, and the company tax return closes the year. Missing a superannuation deadline is not a late payment; it triggers the superannuation guarantee charge, which is not deductible.

We take the whole calendar at the start of the year and run it, so the group knows each lodgement date before it arrives rather than after a penalty notice.

A foreign group with an Australian subsidiary faces thin capitalisation rules on related-party debt, transfer pricing on intercompany services and royalties, and withholding tax on interest, dividends and royalties leaving the country. Treaty rates apply, but only where the recipient is genuinely resident and the arrangement is documented.

Permanent establishment risk is the other common issue. Sending staff to service Australian customers can create a taxable presence long before anyone incorporates, so we test the position while it can still be managed.

GST registration is required at A$75,000 of turnover and reported through the BAS. Single Touch Payroll reports every pay run to the ATO in real time, so payroll errors surface immediately rather than at year end. Fringe benefits tax applies to cars, entertainment and living-away-from-home allowances, and its year runs to 31 March, out of step with the income tax year.

Company tax returns and instalments, BAS and GST reconciliations, Single Touch Payroll with PAYG and superannuation, fringe benefits tax review and lodgement, and ASIC statutory filings, reported in the same pack as the group's other jurisdictions.