Australia - Register a Business or Company

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Procedure

Fill in and lodge ASIC Form 201 Application for Registration as an Australian Company; Get a certificate of incorporation and an Australian company number (ACN)

• The applicant needs to fill in and send an ASIC Form 201 (Application for Registration as an Australian Company) and pay the prescribed charge of AUD 400, in order to register a Pty Ltd company. Anybody who is appointed as a secretary or director of the company / firm needs to have 1st provided written consent to that appointment. Also, every company shareholder is required to give consent to be a shareholder. At least one director (and, if the company has appointed secretaries, at least one secretary) needs to ordinarily live in Australia. The companys / firms registered office needs to have an Australian address. The company can put in place its own constitution or use the Replaceable Rules in the Corporations Act 2001. The applicant needs to check the availability of the intended company / firm name, before lodging the registration application. If no company / firm name is provided, they will be known only by their Australian Company Number (ACN).

Register for ABN with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO)

• As of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 and a new tax system (Goods and Services Tax) act of 1999, this process needs to be completed. The company / firm is required to comply with various taxation prerequisites, dependent on their circumstances and location:
  • The company / firm is required to register for Goods and Services Tax (GST) by getting an eleven digit Australian Business Number (ABN), if the yearly business turnover is AUD$ 75,000 or more. The yearly company turnover is representative of its gross business income (not profit). Companies / firms with less yearly turnover can also decide to register for the Goods and Services Tax. An electronic application for an ABN may be uploaded at the Business Entry Point, http://www.abr.business.gov.au. In other cases, the application can be sent be by hard copy to the (ATO). The applicant will be given an ABN once the internet session finishes, if the electronic application is a success. In addition, the ATO will mail the ABN within twenty-eight days of receiving the electronic submission.
  • The company is required to deduct tax from employee wages, give payment summaries, provide employee superannuation contributions, and report and provide payments to the ATO. Additionally, companies can register for Pay As You Go (PAYG) at the following address www.abr.gov.au In other instances, they can register with the ATO via mail or telephone or via a tax agent. Also, state and territory taxes (e.g., stamp duty, payroll tax, and land tax) can be set, with various prerequisites depending on company /firm location.
  • Companies / firms are required to register for an ABN if they have yearly turnover of AUD$ 75,000 or more. If companies dont comply with this requirement, it will result in GST being levied on all company sales as of the required date of registration. This will apply even if the sale price of any goods or services has not been grossed up to incorporate tax. In addition, the company can be charged penalties and interest fees for any payments that are overdue.

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Required Documents

• The company's Constitution;
• Consent to act as Director;
• Consent to act as Secretary;
• Consent to act as Public Officer;
• Application for Shares;
• Minutes of a Meeting of directors; and
• Share Certificates.

Office Locations & Contacts

Australian Securities and Investments Commission
PO BOX 4000
Gippsland Mail Centre
Victoria 3841
Phone:
1300 300 630: within Australia; Client Contact Centre.
+ 61 3 5177 3988: outside Australia.
Fax: (03) 5177 3999.
Email
ASIC has offices in each state and territory.

The Registrar
Australian Business Register
PO Box 3373
Penrith, NSW, 2740
Contact Australian Business Register

Contacts for Australian Taxation Office

Eligibility

You can apply for an Australian business number (ABN), AUSkey and tax registrations, or apply to have an ABN you previously held reissued:

• online right now at the Australian Business Register
• by lodging a form to order the form you'll need its number
  • ABN registration for individuals (sole traders) (NAT 2938)
  • ABN registration for companies, partnerships, trusts and other organizations (NAT 2939)
• through your registered tax agent or BAS agent.

Companies in Australia are incorporated (registered) under the Corporations Act, 2001. The Act is overseen and administered by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission ("ASIC").

An Australian company is usually incorporated as either a Public Company or as a Proprietary Company. (There are also specialist companies within these two categories such as companies limited by guarantee for clubs, associations and charities, no liability companies for mining companies and legal, accounting and medical practice companies).

Fees

• 201A ~ Public company - with share capital $457
• 201B ~ Public company limited by guarantee $377
• 201C ~ Proprietary company (fee will depend on class of company refer to Forms 201A and 201B) $457

Validity

Explain the time until which the certificate/document is valid.
e.g. Birth Certificate Valid Forever

Documents to Use

Application for registration as an Australian company

Application for registration as an Australian company (Form 201)

Sample Documents

Document Starting a company or business

Processing Time

Some applications may require manual processing and may take up to 20 business days.

Through ASIC Connect, you can apply to register a business name and pay your registration fee online. The application takes around 15-20 minutes and you will get on the spot confirmation that your application has been submitted.

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications. 
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Instructions

As part of the Australian business number (ABN) application you can apply for other business registrations. Applying for other registrations at the same time as your ABN will save you time as some information will be pre-filled for you.

Foreign entities may wish to carry on business in Australia as a foreign company. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) outlines the criteria which define foreign companies and the rights foreign companies hold in Australia.

As with Australian companies, foreign companies must be registered with ASIC. ASIC is also responsible for the ongoing regulation of foreign companies.

Required Information

• Entity type for example, individual/sole trader, company, super fund
• Previous Australian business number (ABN) check on ABN Lookup to see if you are an existing ABN holder
• Tax agent number (TAN) if you are using one
• Legal name of the entity
• Tax file number (TFN) providing a TFN is not mandatory, but will help us identify who you are and speed up the application process
• All business locations physical and postal addresses
• Authorized contact details
• Main business activity.

Need for the Document

If you decide that a company structure best suits your business, then you need to register as a company. One of the benefits to registering as a company is being able to register a company name. With a company name you have the advantage of holding exclusive rights to that name in Australia, without having to register in each state.

You can only choose a company name not already registered to a company or business. Special approval is also required to use certain words.

If your company carries on business in a name different to your registered company name, then you must register the business name.

Information which might help

ABN (Australian Business Number)

When you form a company you will be issued an ACN (Australian Company Number). Once you have this ACN you can then apply for an ABN. When you register for an Australian business number (ABN), your Australian Company Number (ACN) will be used to create your ABN. Your ABN is actually two check digits followed by the nine existing digits of your ACN.

TFN (Tax Filing Number)

An Australian company will have its own Tax Filing Number (TFN) and it will be separate to your own individual TFN.

GST

Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a broad-based tax of 10% on most goods, services and other items sold or consumed in Australia. Registration for GST is compulsory for companies who turn over more than $50,000 per annum. Once registered for GST, a company can charge GST on the products and services it provides and also claim back GST against expenses made for the business.

Once you have formed your company you can apply for an ABN, TFN and GST simultaneously by clicking here:Apply for [http://www.abr.gov.au/ ABN

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

Please explain what are other uses of obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

External Links

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Others

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