Structures & Wealth

Who this is really for

Nobody asks for a structure in the abstract. The question arrives attached to something that has just happened, or is about to.

• The business made more this year than you planned for, and someone has told you that you should be a company.
• Your parents set up a family trust years ago, you are now the trustee, and nobody explained what has to happen each June.
• Your SMSF owns a rental property and the auditor keeps coming back with questions.
• You are thinking about selling a commercial unit or a share portfolio and want to know the tax before you sign anything.
• Two families bought a property through a unit trust and one of them now wants out.

What the work involves

Choosing or changing a structure

A sole trader, partnership, company, discretionary trust and unit trust each tax income differently, and each puts a different distance between the risks of the business and your personal assets. We lay the options side by side using your own figures: who earns the income, who needs it, what the business borrows, and what you might sell later.

The company rate catches people out. A company pays 25% only while it is a base rate entity, which means aggregated turnover under $50 million and no more than 80% of its assessable income from passive sources such as rent, interest and dividends. A company that only holds investments generally pays 30%. Company profits are also not yours until they are paid out as wages or dividends. A loan or private payment to a shareholder or an associate falls under Division 7A.

Running a family or unit trust

For a discretionary trust the date that matters is 30 June. The trustee's resolution has to be made by then, or by an earlier date if the deed says so, to make beneficiaries entitled to that year's income. If nobody is entitled at 30 June, the trustee is assessed on the trust's net income, possibly at the top rate.

The resolution does not need a dollar figure; a percentage of whatever the income turns out to be will do. To stream franked dividends to a particular beneficiary, the resolution has to be in writing by 30 June. Capital gains can wait until 31 August, but only if they were not already caught up in income dealt with at 30 June.

That means doing the work before June runs out. We read the deed and its amendments, check who can actually receive income, confirm whether a family trust election is in force, and settle the resolution wording while there is time. The accounts and trust return follow.

A fixed unit trust has no annual choice: entitlements follow the units held. The work is an accurate unit register and distributions that match it. Each time units change hands, the seller has a capital gains event.

A 30% minimum tax on discretionary trusts, payable by the trustee from 1 July 2028, has been announced but is not yet law. Treasury released draft legislation for comment in September 2026, so the detail can still change.

Self-managed super funds

An SMSF runs on an annual cycle set by the ATO: accounts with the assets valued, an approved SMSF auditor appointed at least 45 days before the return is due, any issues the auditor raises dealt with, then the annual return lodged and the tax and supervisory levy paid. New trustees sign a trustee declaration within 21 days of appointment. We prepare the accounts and return, answer the auditor and watch the dates.

From 1 July 2026, members with a total super balance above $3 million pay an extra 15% on the share of earnings linked to the excess, and a further 10% above $10 million. This is now law.

ASIC draws a line here. An accountant can explain how to set up, run, structure or wind up a fund. A recommendation that you should set up an SMSF, or move your super into one, is financial product advice that needs an Australian financial services licence. When that is the real question, we will say so.

Capital gains, planned before the contract

For a sale under contract, the capital gains event happens on the contract date, not at settlement. A contract signed on 28 June lands in that income year even if settlement is in August.

The discount depends on the owner. After 12 months, individuals and trusts currently get 50%, complying super funds a third, companies nothing. From 1 July 2027 legislated reforms replace the 50% discount for individuals, trusts and partnerships with cost base indexation and a 30% minimum rate. They reach only gains accruing after that date, so the gain on an asset you already own will be split between the two periods. Work out that split before you sign.

How it works

How fees work for this service

Each entity is quoted on its own, and the fee is fixed and agreed before work starts. Annual compliance for a company, trust or SMSF depends mostly on how many assets and transactions it has. Advice on a restructure or a planned sale is scoped and quoted separately, before you commit to it. How our fees work explains the approach.