Manage income and expenses within a group context

Share income and expenses strategically within your group to reduce tax legally.

Within a family or business group, the difference in tax rates between high and low earners creates legitimate opportunities to reduce the group’s overall tax burden. But without proper structuring and documentation, those opportunities go unrealised – and informal arrangements can attract ATO scrutiny and penalties. If your group is sharing income and expenses without a properly documented, legally compliant structure, you are almost certainly paying more tax than necessary. ADLV Law designs mutual support arrangements that are fully compliant and genuinely effective.

Manage income and expenses within a group context

ADLV Law will structure mutual support arrangements that legally optimise how income and expenses are managed within your group, ensuring compliance while minimising tax.

What is a mutual support arrangement and when is it used?

A mutual support arrangement is a documented structure that allows income and expenses to flow between members of a family or business group in a legally compliant way. Common structures include discretionary family trusts, service agreements between related entities, and properly documented loan arrangements. When correctly implemented, they can significantly reduce the overall tax burden on the group.

Is income splitting between family members legal?

Income splitting can be entirely legitimate when it is implemented through proper structures – such as a family trust distributing income to lower-rate beneficiaries – and genuinely reflects the economic arrangements between the parties. It becomes problematic when done informally, without documentation, or in a way that artificially redirects income without a genuine commercial basis. ADLV Law advises only on legitimate, fully compliant arrangements.

What documentation is required for a family group tax structure?

The specific documentation depends on the structure, but typically includes a trust deed for family trusts, trustee resolutions, service agreements for arrangements involving services between related parties, and loan agreements for any loans between entities in the group. The ATO requires that arrangements be documented in advance – after-the-fact paperwork is generally not accepted.

What are the ATO's concerns about income splitting arrangements?

The ATO looks closely at arrangements where high-rate taxpayers divert income to lower-rate family members without a genuine commercial reason. The income-splitting provisions, personal services income rules, and trust tax rules can all apply to these arrangements. ADLV Law designs structures that are built to withstand this scrutiny from the outset.

Reduce group tax legally

Maintain full compliance

Build intergenerational wealth

Start optimising your group's tax today.

Schedule a confidential consultation with our tax structuring specialists to discuss your group’s situation and discover potential savings.

Is your group paying more tax than necessary?

Within your family or business group, some members are in high tax brackets while others have lower incomes. There are real opportunities to share expenses and support each other – but informal arrangements without proper documentation can attract ATO scrutiny, penalties, and damaged relationships. You need a properly structured, legally defensible arrangement that actually works.

We will map your group's income flows and identify legitimate tax optimisation opportunities.
We will design compliant mutual support structures tailored to your group.
We will prepare all required trust deeds, service agreements, and loan documentation.
We will advise on ATO compliance requirements and ongoing obligations.

When managing your group's tax position has become complex

You are part of a family group or business arrangement where members genuinely support each other financially. Some earn more, some earn less, but you all share a commitment to collective prosperity. You can see that proper income distribution could reduce the group’s overall tax burden, but the complexity of the rules makes you hesitant to put anything in place without professional guidance.

What's included in your group tax structuring service

Stop letting tax inefficiency drain your group's wealth.

Without properly documented mutual support structures, your group continues paying more tax than necessary while the opportunity to do something about it goes unrealised. Informal arrangements without trust deeds, service agreements, or proper loan documentation are a red flag for the ATO. If an audit uncovers undocumented arrangements that look like income splitting, the consequences can include penalties, interest charges on reassessed tax, and the unwinding of years of planning. Worse, disputes over undocumented arrangements can damage the relationships they were meant to support.

How we help your group keep more of what it earns

We design and implement documented mutual support arrangements that give your group confidence it is operating legally while maximising collective tax benefits. Using discretionary trusts, service agreements, and properly documented loan arrangements, we create tax-effective structures for your specific circumstances. We establish all the documentation, confirm the compliance position, and give you a framework that stands up to scrutiny. Your group keeps more of what it earns – and does so with complete confidence.

Your pathway to tax-optimised group wealth.

Legally minimise your group's tax burden with the right structures in place.

Group analysis

We map your current income flows, expense patterns, and tax positions to identify optimisation opportunities across the group.

Structure design

We design mutual support arrangements using trusts, companies, and agreements that legally minimise tax across your group.

Implementation

We establish all structures, draft all required agreements, and create the compliance documentation your group needs.

Business law specialists with 25+ years structuring family and group arrangements.

We understand the delicate balance of managing money within families and groups. You want to help each other prosper, but the fear of ATO scrutiny or creating conflict holds you back. We also know it is frustrating to see your group paying maximum tax when legitimate strategies exist to keep more wealth within your circle. For over 25 years, ADLV Law has structured mutual support arrangements for Australian families and business groups, and our team includes accredited specialists in business law who understand both the technical requirements and the family dynamics involved.

We understand you want to know the cost, before we get started.

We will map out our process, from beginning to end, so you know what the journey will look like before you get started.

We will provide you with a clear and detailed Work Proposal covering each step along the way.

Our fair fees are all-inclusive. No hidden costs for telephone calls, emails, photocopying, couriers, or coffee.

Our great lawyer guarantee

We want to be part of your team over the long term. We achieve this by adhering to these core principles:

Take the time

We listen carefully to understand what you want to achieve. Then we thoroughly explain our advice and step you through the documents. You can be sure you know the full consequences.

Share our knowledge

We will pass on as much knowledge as we can, so you can make your own informed decisions. We want to make you truly independent.

Stick to our knitting

We only do what we're good at. You can be confident that we know what we're doing and don't pass on the cost of our learning.

Work as one team

Someone will always be available to answer your questions, or point you in the right direction. You will also benefit from a range of perspectives and experience.

Fair pricing

For advice and documents, we provide a fixed or capped quote so you don't take price risk. If you're in a dispute, we map out the process and costs so you know what to expect.

It's your show

We're not in this for our egos. We're in it for a front row seat to witness your success.

Start optimising your group's tax today.

Schedule a confidential consultation with our tax structuring specialists to discuss your group’s situation.

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Manage income and expenses within a group context

Share income and expenses strategically within your group to reduce tax legally.