Companies, trusts & SMSF
Sole trader, company or trust? The right answer depends on how you actually earn, what you are protecting, and what you plan to build. We explain the trade-offs in plain language, then handle the paperwork.
Your options
There is no universally best structure — only the one that fits your situation now and can still cope in five years. Here is the honest version of each.
Cheapest and simplest: an ABN against your own TFN, one return, minimal ongoing cost. The trade-off is that there is no legal separation — your business debts are your personal debts, and all profit is taxed in your name at your marginal rate.
Usually fits: starting out, low risk, modest profit.
Two or more people sharing income and costs, with its own TFN and return but no separate tax of its own — profit flows through to the partners. Simple to run, but each partner can be liable for the whole of the partnership's debts, so a written agreement matters more than people expect.
Usually fits: family or professional pairs with aligned risk.
A separate legal entity taxed at the company rate, which gives a real cap on retained-profit tax and a genuine liability shield. The costs are ASIC annual review fees, proper records, director duties, and getting money out correctly — wages, dividends with franking credits, or a compliant division 7A loan.
Usually fits: consistent profit, real liability exposure, plans to reinvest or grow.
Flexibility in who receives income each year and access to the CGT discount on eligible gains, often with a corporate trustee for protection. In exchange: a trust deed to follow, resolutions signed before 30 June every year, and rules on losses and distributions that are unforgiving if ignored.
Usually fits: family businesses, investment holdings, income-splitting where it is genuinely allowed.
Control over how your retirement savings are invested, inside a concessionally taxed environment. It is also a regulated fund with trustee obligations, an investment strategy, an annual audit by an approved SMSF auditor and an annual return. Worth it at scale and with genuine interest — a burden without both.
Usually fits: established balances and members who want to be hands-on.
Outgrown what you set up years ago? Moving between structures can trigger CGT and Victorian duty, but small business restructure rollovers and concessions often reduce or defer it. We model the cost before anything moves, rather than discovering it afterwards.
Usually fits: profitable sole traders, or a structure that no longer matches the business.
Setup, handled
Once the structure is decided, you should not have to chase registrations across four different agencies. We do it end to end.
Structuring decisions that involve property have a state dimension as well as a federal one — land transfer duty on a transfer, landholder duty where entity interests change hands, and land tax in the new owner's name once the dust settles. We factor the State Revenue Office side in before recommending a move, because it is often the larger number.
Who you deal with
Structuring is not a form-filling exercise. You get a direct conversation about how you earn, what you own, who depends on it, and what you are actually worried about — then a recommendation with the reasoning shown, not just a verdict.
Our office is on Caroline Springs Boulevard and our clients are spread right across Melbourne. Meet us here, or do the whole thing by phone, email and video — structuring advice travels perfectly well.
Also available
Once the structure is in place, someone still has to run the numbers through it.
Call 0420 416 543 or send us a message — the first conversation costs nothing.
