IOS:: Australia - Representative Office

Friday, 12 March 2010

     Australia is the only country in the world occupying an entire continent. Politically, it is a federation, consisting of six states and two territories. The official Head of State is the Queen of the United Kingdom, whose representative in Australia is the Governor-General.
     Australia is known throughout the world as a highly developed country with a standard level of taxation and a high rating in international business circles. Australia does not have the reputation of a country with a privileged tax system, and therefore enjoys a respectful image with entrepreneurs and official institutions. Furthermore, it is not included in any "blacklist".
     A foreign (e.g. Irish, American etc.) company can establish a representative office in Australia. For this purpose, the foreign company must appoint at least one Australian resident as director, who is answerable to the local authorities for the activities of the representative office.

GENERAL INFORMATION	Total area - 7,682,300 sq km Population - 19,200,000 Location - click here to see the map of offshore jurisdictions Political status - Federation Capital - Canberra Official language - English Official currency - Australian Dollar (AUD) Time zone - GMT +8 - GMT +10
Company type	Representative Office (R/O)
Directors/Officers	Australian R/O requires a minimum of 1 Director, who must be a natural person. At least one Director must be a resident of Australia, other directors may be from any legal jurisdiction. There is no statutory requirement for a Company Secretary to be appointed. Each Australian R/O must file a Register of its Directors with the Australian Securities & Investment Commission.
Shareholders	Shareholders of Australian R/O are similar to shareholders of a parent company, and may be natural persons or corporate bodies from any legal jurisdiction. Each Australian R/O must file a Register of its Shareholder/s with the Australian Securities & Investment Commission.
Authorised share capital	Authorised capital of Australian R/O is identical to authorised capital of a parent company. Minimum capital, which must be paid on incorporation = 1 AUD.
Company Names	The name of Australian R/O is identical to name of a parent company. Company names containing restricted words such as "Bank", "Insurance", "Trust" etc. will not be permitted unless an appropriate national operating licence has been obtained by the company.
Beneficial Ownership information	Information with regard to ultimate beneficial ownership must be disclosed to the Registered Agent of the company in Australia and is held by the agent on a confidential basis.
Filing of Annual Return	An Annual Return must be submitted until 31 December, each year.
Filing of Financial Statement	A Financial Statement (balance sheet) must be submitted every year.
Corporate Taxation	Tax rate for Australian R/O is similar to tax rate for Australian resident companies - 30%.
Tax Treaties	Australia has concluded double tax treaties with more than 40 countries.
Timeframe for incorporation	15/20 working days. A complete set of company documents can be delivered in 8/10 weeks.
Takeover of management & secretarial services for an existing Australia Representative Office	Possible, following verification of Beneficial Ownership and agreement with and discharge of liabilities to previous corporate service provider in Australia.
Description of incorporation documents	Click here for itemised description of company documents.
"Ready-made"("Shelf") companies	We are happy to register new company in this jurisdiction in accordance with client instructions.
Price of Australia Representative Office	USD 4,980, including incorporation costs, full domiciliary (Registered Agent/Office) costs, Nominee services and legal support services for one year.
Cost of annual support services	USD 3,680 per year, including full domiciliary (Registered Agent/Office) costs, annual Government Duty, Nominee services and legal support services for each year. Also, there are additional fees for preparing of financial statement, which depends on complicity of the statement.

INTERNATIONAL OVERSEAS SERVICES has the following comments: -
To incorporate an enterprise in Australia is a respectable and prestigious choice. No supervisory institution or business partner will dare to accuse an Australian company, even on a subjective level, of being a tax-mitigation vehicle.
In its turn, there are specific details connected with payment of the annual renewal of an Australian representative office registration. This lies in the fact that in Australia, the filing of the annual return, together with the associated duty, must take place at the end of every calendar year (and not on the anniversary of the day of registration). For this reason, the annual payment is in fact made in two instalments - the first instalment (50%), i.e. for the completion and filing of the annual return and settlement of the filing duty by 31 December of the same year, and the remaining 50% on the expiry of 12 months after the day of registration.

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