Handbook

Even though considerable economic activity in Australia is undertaken through the sole trader (sole owner) “entity”, significant economic activity takes place through use of the three major entities, namely, the partnership, trust and company vehicle. The focus of this course is on the tax treatment of taxable income and tax losses made through these three major entities. Even though tax policy suggests that similar treatment should be given to each economically equivalent entity, it is difficult to achieve this when designing operative tax rules. Hence, tax becomes a real factor in the all-important choice of entity question through which to operate an enterprise or hold investment assets. The course commences with some general law (non-tax) coverage of each entity, especially material factors in regard to the choice of entity question. It then moves to the income tax rules for each entity. Here the focus is on the tax rules relevant to the creation, operation and termination of partnerships, trusts and companies. The focus is on the tax rules that apply to closely held entities, and not widely held entities like listed trusts and listed companies.