Tax

Comprehensive Tax and Legal Guidance

Tax Advice

“The hardest thing in the world to understand is the Income Tax.” (Albert Einstein). We advise on all complex tax issues concerning private businesses, family groups and high net-worth individuals.

Tax impacts nearly every transaction. Failing to manage tax carefully can result in severe financial consequences. We help you to obtain clarity, reduce risk and get it right.

We assist with:

federal taxes, including:
- ~income tax;
- ~capital gains tax (CGT); and
- ~GST.
state taxes, including:
- ~transfer duty (stamp duty);
- ~land tax;
- ~windfall gains tax; and
- ~payroll tax.
Division 7A;
small business CGT concessions;
taxation of trusts;
property development;
international tax;
employee share schemes and incentive plans; and
tax residency.

Approach

Our usual approach is to:

provide you with a clear and transparent fee quote;
discuss your requirements, goals and desired outcomes;
work collaboratively with other professional advisors;
deliver our work to you in accordance with your wishes; and
regularly update you and your professional advisors during the process.

Fill in the form and someone from our team will be in contact shortly.

How do you charge?

Trust is one of our core values. We pride ourselves on not causing 'bill shock'. Our usual approach is to provide you with a clear and transparent fee quote to ensure that there are no surprises. You can then make an informed decision about whether you want to proceed or not.

Why should I engage a tax lawyer?

Tax law is often difficult to understand and apply in practice. Our tax team is committed to using their extensive knowledge of the tax law to provide clear and practical advice.

Engaging a tax lawyer for tax advice provides comfort in tackling complex tax matters – particularly where there isn’t a straightforward answer. We take pride in our ability to explain complicated concepts in a digestible manner to create clarity for clients with varying degrees of legal literacy.

Is advice from a tax lawyer subject to Legal Professional Privilege?

Confidential communications made between a lawyer and client for the dominant purpose of obtaining legal advice or use in proceedings are protected from disclosure on the grounds of Legal Professional Privilege. This head of privilege encompasses the provision of tax advice on complex or sensitive matters.

Do you advise on Cryptocurrency?

The Velocity Legal tax team has an active interest in the tax consequences related to blockchain and digital assets.

We provide tax and legal advice on matters relating to digital assets such as purchase or sale of cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

What areas of tax do you commonly advise on?

Our specialist tax lawyers are experienced in providing legal for a wide range of tax issues. Common areas of tax that we provide advice on are:

business restructures;
international tax;
property development;
tax residency (Individuals, Companies and Trusts);
state taxes;
succession planning;
tax controversy and disputes;
tax planning;
transaction structuring; and
trusts.

What is the benefit of a ‘reasonably arguable position’ paper?

Unfortunately, there are many instances where Australia’s tax laws are not black and white.** **While your accountant or lawyer can provide you with their advice, ultimately you need to determine what position to take (e.g., through the way in which your tax return is lodged). However, making the wrong decision can be an expensive mistake.

The good news is that a penalty may not apply even if the ATO or the Court concludes that the position you adopted is incorrect. For instance, if you and your tax agent have taken ‘reasonable care’, and the position you adopted is a ‘reasonably arguable position’ – the penalties imposed on the tax shortfall will be eliminated.

A position is ‘reasonably arguable’ if it can be concluded in the circumstances, having regard to relevant authorities, that what is argued for is about as likely to be correct as incorrect, or is more likely to be correct than incorrect.

Do you advise on the small business CGT concessions?

Small businesses account for 98% of all businesses in Australia. To assist small businesses and their efforts in contributing to our Australian economy, a range of concessions are afforded to ‘small business entities’. Those concessions could result in no or substantially reduced tax on the sale of a business asset.

We provide regularly advise on all aspects of the small business CGT concessions, including the maximum net asset value test, active asset test, 15-year exemption and retirement exemption.

Do you advise on International Tax issues?

Cross-border transactions and the physical relocation of clients are common. Our tax experts are accustomed to solving international tax problems and providing fulsome advice on matters relating to:

residency for individuals;
residency of companies;
ceasing and commencing residency;
the controlled foreign company rules;
transferor trust provisions;
cross-border transactions and structuring; and
ATO disputes in relation to international tax issues.

Do you prepare private ruling applications?

A private ruling from the ATO is binding advice that details how a tax law applies to a specific set of facts. We can assist in the preparation of private ruling applications where you are interested in seeking clarity regarding the application of a law to your circumstances.

We advise on all aspects of private ruling applications, including whether an application should be sought, the scope and phrasing of questions, identification of the critical issues and the legal arguments to support your position.