Duty

When establishing a business, undertaking a restructure or buying or selling assets, it is easy to miss important steps including identifying any available duty concessions and exemptions. Depending on the scale of the transaction, this can cost thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of dollars.

Our team of tax and duty lawyers at Cooper Grace Ward can help you to identify and access the relevant duty concessions and duty exemptions. We are specialists in structuring transactions to provide the most tax and duty effective outcome for your business.

Benefits we deliver to you through our understanding of duty exemptions and concessions

You will save time, money and effort by engaging our tax and duty lawyers.

Our depth of experience means we can quickly and efficiently analyse the duty concessions and exemptions available to you. And in many transactions, a relatively small investment in our services can yield significant savings for your business.

We save you time and money through:

Reduced transaction costs

Even if your transaction is subject to stamp duty, we can guide you through the structuring alternatives to minimise the stamp duty costs, saving you money.

Australia wide coverage

You gain the benefit of dealing with a single team who can advise on the tax and duty implications of transactions across all Australian states and territories. This includes deep expertise in Queensland which has the widest range of transactions and assets to which duty applies.

No surprises

Our knowledge of each step from initial planning through to lodgement and payment of the duty with the revenue offices in each jurisdiction means there are no surprises for you in the process.

Understanding of your business and industry sector

Knowing the law is one thing but understanding how it applies to your business and industry sector is another. Our team works across a range of industry sectors which have their own specific range of duty concessions and exemptions. This includes sectors such as energy and resources, agribusiness and property.

An easy fit with your existing advisers

We are well regarded for our ability to work seamlessly with your accountants, financial planners, financiers and other professional advisers to achieve your business objectives.

Peace of mind, knowing all the issues have been anticipated and addressed

Our team is active in industry committees that work at the cutting edge of changes in tax and duty law, and interface with the ATO and OSR on how these laws are being applied. This means we can help you identify and resolve issues and you also benefit from our relationships with the revenue offices in each jurisdiction.

Our duty law services

Cooper Grace Ward’s tax and duty lawyers offer a range of services in this area of law, including:

  • Duty consequences of transactions, including dealings in partnerships and trusts which can be particularly complex
  • Share and asset sales across all Australian jurisdictions
  • Landholder duty issues
  • Implementation of trust cloning restructures
  • Transfer of control of family businesses to the next generation
  •  Strategies to avoid or minimise corporate trustee duty when changing control of a trustee company
  • Application of the corporate reconstruction concessions
  • Contested matters including dealing with the revenue offices in objections, appeals, disputes, re-assessment applications, cancelled agreements and refunds.

Key contacts

Scott Hay-Bartlem
Partner
Linda Tapiolas
Partner
Tom Walrut
Senior Associate

Publications

It Depends - Is there duty payable on a transfer of shares in a private company?

In this week’s edition of ‘It depends’, associate Sacha Robinson talks about whether duty is payable in a transfer of shares in a private company.

It Depends - Can I access small business duty relief in Queensland in relation to the restructure of my business?

In this edition of ‘It depends’, senior associate Keeghan Silcock talks about whether you might be eligible for small business duty relief in Queensland.

It Depends - Is there duty payable on the sale of my business?

In this edition of ‘It depends’, associate Keeghan Silcock talks about whether there is duty payable on the sale of your business.