Incorporation of professional practices has become a topical issue in recent years for a number of reasons: relaxation of professional body requirements, the ATO focus on service entities, reduction and planned elimination of stamp duty on business transfers, and limitation of liability issues.
The ATO has now issued its long-anticipated draft determination regarding the CGT consequences of the incorporation of no-goodwill professional practices. The draft determination confirms that the market value substitution rule won't be applied to the "ebb and flow"? of shareholders in an incorporated professional practice, subject to specific restrictions. In addition, there are important matters left unaddressed by the draft determination that should concern all practitioners working in this area.
This event covered:
- the current position for transactions affecting goodwill under the Queensland Duties Act, pending the abolition of business duties in 2013
- the specific parameters for relying on the draft determination, the consequences of breaching any of those parameters and what the administrative approach means in practice
- considered the recent pronouncements of the ATO directed at professional firm structuring and incorporation processes.