Australia

This month we have prepared two articles that cover current issues we believe are relevant to SME advisors.

The first article considers the recent Melren Farms case, and in particular how easy it can be for a liquidated company to be reinstated by an aggrieved creditor (such as the ATO).

The second article looks at dividend access shares and whether they are effective (or whether they are just likely to result in the ATO taking a closer look at the company and its shareholders).

Your company is liquidated – but is it really gone for good? 
It is often assumed that once a company has been liquidated, that company is ‘dead and buried’.   However, recent cases have shown this to be a misconstrued understanding.

Dividend access shares – do they work?
For the maximum benefit to be gained from the use of a private company it is important to carefully consider who will be a shareholder of the company.  Factors such as tax on dividends, tax on disposal of the shares, asset protection and estate planning are all likely to be considered in determining who will be a shareholder.