Business Structures

    A company may be deregistered after it is closed down (e.g. voluntary deregistration), liquidated (by the members, court or creditors) or struck off the register of companies by ASIC (e.g. for outstanding annual review fees). Once a company is deregistered:       It ceases to exist as a legal entity and can…

    A trustee company is a legal entity that acts as a fiduciary, agent or trustee on behalf of a person or business for the purpose of administration, management and the eventual transfer of assets to a beneficial party. Trustee companies provide independent trustee services and can undertake the following activities:   Producing offer…

A super fund trustee company is a type of special purpose proprietary company that is only permitted to act as trustee of a self-managed superannuation fund and cannot trade in any form or to act as a trustee of any other trust. A super fund trustee company’s constitution must contain a clause prohibiting the company…

A shelf company is a company that has not traded and historically has had no activity. In the past it could take up to two weeks to incorporate a company, yet people often needed a new company quickly, so providers of company registration services would register companies and have them 'sitting on the shelf', ready…

Unlike private companies, under the Corporations Act public companies can raise capital from the public, and have unlimited shareholders. These two attributes make public companies an attractive structure when businesses need to raise large amounts of funds. Compared to private companies, public companies are subject to additional administration and regulatory costs (i.e. half-yearly financial statement…

Proprietary limited companies are the most common company structure in Australia and account for 98.5% of all companies. Generally, they are the most appropriate company structure for small businesses. A Proprietary Limited company (also known as a Pty Ltd company), cannot raise capital from the public, and is restricted to a maximum 50 non- employee…

  A partnership of discretionary trusts is a partnership where each partner is a discretionary trust. This is a good structure for unrelated parties wanting to operate a business or invest together because: Provides each partner with a fixed interest in the partnership; say 50% each. Allows access to the CGT small business concessions. Provides…

An incorporated limited partnership is an incorporated entity which is separate from the partners, has perpetual succession, and can sue or be sued in its own name.  An incorporated limited partnership has the following structure:    One or more general partners (whose liability is unlimited) and one or more limited partners. The general partners manage…

In a typical husband and wife tradepeople partnership, one partner is qualified (for example an electrician) and produces the partnership income and the other partner may be involved in administration for the partnership. Profits from the partnership are normally split 50/50 between the partners.    This structure was reviewed by the ATO in 2005 in…

A partnership involves two or more partners (people or entities) carrying on a business together with a view to profit. Partnerships are governed by the Partnership Act of the state or territory in which the partnership was formed, and are limited to a maximum of 20 partners. Partnerships have the following advantages:     It's…