Registration of an eligible existing body as an Australian company (conditional transfer)

A company may generally be wholly owned by a non-resident individual or body corporate. There is no uniform resident shareholder requirement, but at least one director must ordinarily reside in Australia. Relevant foreign investment transactions and industry restrictions should be screened separately. Share ownership does not confer a right to work or reside in Australia.

Company law applies an ordinary residence in Australia test, not merely nationality or visa labels. Verify actual residence, eligibility for appointment and ability to discharge duties; borrowing an Australian address cannot substitute for an actual resident director.

One share may be issued for AUD 1, but shares have no par value, and this is not a uniform statutory minimum share capital. Paid and unpaid share amounts must be recorded accurately, with separate budgets for working capital and any net tangible asset requirements for specific licences.

As at 2026-11-05, the Form 201 registration fee is AUD 636 for a share-capital Pty company or public company, and AUD 524 for a company limited by guarantee; annual review fees are AUD 342 for a standard Pty company and AUD 1,591 for a public company. Special-purpose and ACNC charity exemptions are subject to eligibility conditions; professional fees are additional. See https://download.asic.gov.au/asic-nga/data/fees-data-current.json for current official fees.

No. The service charter’s target of 1 working day for a complete ordinary company application submitted online, with a target rate of 90%, covers only the corresponding registration processing. It does not include preparation, Director ID, tax or banking KYC, and is not a guarantee for every application.

The individual must apply personally. An adviser may assist with preparing documents and navigating the process, but cannot log in on the individual’s behalf to make an identity declaration. Applicants who cannot complete online verification from overseas may use the prescribed paper form and certified copies; do not post original passports.

A PO box alone cannot serve as a company’s registered office. The service address must be a genuine Australian address, with consent to occupy and effective arrangements for receiving correspondence. Public companies and foreign companies are also subject to requirements concerning access and a representative being present; banks may require evidence of actual business operations.

No. ACN is the company registration outcome; ABN is applied for based on business eligibility, TFN is a tax file number, and GST and PAYG are registrations subject to business requirements. Banks conduct independent due diligence. The company’s TFN official information says it is received within 28 days after a complete application.

Not only. Direct or indirect ownership of 25% or more is an important beneficial-owner test; actual controllers, directors and authorised persons must also be identified. Complex nominee arrangements, trusts or other forms of control may still require tracing through even where ownership is below 25%.

This should not be understood in this way. Cross-border wire-transfer IFTI reporting has no general threshold of ten thousand Australian dollars; ten thousand Australian dollars mainly relates to different regimes, such as cash threshold transaction reporting. Banks or payment institutions report under their own statutory obligations and may request evidence of the business activity.

No. It also requires that passive income of the entity subject to the base rate for the income year does not exceed 80% of its assessable income, and that aggregated turnover is calculated under the connected entity and affiliate rules, including overseas entities that must be included. If the conditions are not met, the rate is generally 30%.

Generally, registration is required when current or projected GST turnover reaches A$75,000, or A$150,000 for a non-profit organisation, and must be completed within 21 days of the threshold being reached. Exceptions apply to taxi and ride-sharing passenger transport and fuel tax credits, among other cases. GST turnover is not profit or all global income.

Not entirely. Standard quarterly due dates are 28 October, 28 February, 28 April and 28 July; the second quarter has already been extended. Monthly payments are generally due on the 21st of the following month. Any applicable electronic or agent extension and public holiday adjustment should be checked in the ATO account.

Under current Payday Super, from 1 July 2026, 12% of qualifying earnings is calculated for each pay run. The fund must generally receive and be able to allocate the contribution within seven business days after payday, subject to exceptions such as for new employees. The former quarterly rule applies to relevant earlier periods and must not be presented as the current standard for all cases.

A registered company that has not been deregistered generally continues to pay the ASIC annual fee and confirm its details; whether a tax return or a nil BAS is required depends on registration and ATO requirements. Inactivity cannot be used as a substitute for deregistration, nor can all reporting be stopped unilaterally.

It depends. Foreign control, crowd-sourced equity funding, ASIC or member directions can trigger financial reporting and audit requirements; check the conditions for relief separately. Large classification uses a test of at least two of three criteria for that financial year, not two consecutive financial years.

No. Annual review includes reconciliation, payment of fees and, where applicable, a solvency resolution; Form 484 is for changes to new company details, while Form 492 is for correcting information already lodged. A positive solvency resolution is generally kept internally; a negative resolution or failure to make a resolution must be notified using Form 485 within periods such as seven days.

Ordinary public companies are generally required to be audited, but guarantee companies are subject to small, review and audit tiers, while ACNC charities are subject to a separate charity reporting regime. First check income, DGR, control and registration status, then determine the obligations.

As at the verification date, Hong Kong is not listed in the official list of comprehensive income tax treaties; the Australia–Hong Kong Free Trade Agreement is not an income tax treaty, and the mainland China DTA cannot automatically be applied to a Hong Kong company. Franking of dividends and other domestic exemptions require separate analysis.

No. The beneficiary’s present rights, resolutions, undistributed income, non-resident status, minority status, anti-avoidance rules and corporate trust structures can all affect tax treatment; losses generally cannot be allocated directly to beneficiaries. The corporate trustee’s own maintenance obligations continue.

Different. Form 402 obtains ARBN while the entity remains a foreign body corporate; an eligible existing body corporate uses Form 202 under Part 5B.1 to convert to an Australian company, subject to the migration laws of its original jurisdiction and Australian requirements. Form 401 is not the form for a foreign company to migrate.

No. An Australian office and business hours are generally due within seven days, the name within fourteen days, and directors, constitution and local agent details, among other matters, generally within one month. A foreign company must also lodge financial statements once in each calendar year, with an interval of no more than 15 months; Pty annual review requirements cannot simply be applied to it.

The current options are an eligible refundable offset equal to the company tax rate plus 18.5 percentage points, or a non-refundable offset equal to the company tax rate plus 8.5 or 16.5 percentage points, tiered according to R&D intensity. The 2026 Budget reforms have not yet become law and do not apply to current calculations; the 17% patent box is also not a current general concession.

This cannot be guaranteed on that basis. BIIP closed to new applications on 31 July 2024; existing applications and eligible subsequent pathways are dealt with separately. Company registration itself does not provide a visa, the right to work in Australia or permanent residence.

Completion of a share transaction does not exempt the business from a bank’s reassessment or from notifying or obtaining approval for a change of control under a licence. A licence is not an asset that can be transferred separately at will. Due diligence should cover historical tax liabilities, litigation, security interests, personnel and authorisations, and regulatory and banking conditions should be arranged.

Generally, all members must agree, the company must have ceased trading, its assets must be worth less than A$1,000, it must have no outstanding liabilities or legal proceedings, and ASIC fees must be paid. The current fee for Form 6010 is A$52; deregistration may occur only two months after the approval notice. If the requirements are not met, assess winding up rather than attempting to force deregistration.