International tax advice (outbound structuring)
Expand offshore without Australian tax law derailing your plans.
When you take your business or investments offshore, Australia’s tax rules don’t stay behind. The ATO has extensive provisions designed to capture income earned overseas. Getting the offshore structure right before you expand is far cheaper than unwinding a problematic one after you have committed. ADLV Law provides specialist outbound tax structuring advice that lets you operate internationally with confidence and full ATO compliance.
International tax advice (outbound structuring)
What are the main Australian tax risks when structuring an overseas investment?
How do Australia's transfer pricing rules affect offshore operations?
Transfer pricing rules require that transactions between related parties in different countries (such as loans, services, or royalties between an Australian parent and its offshore subsidiary) be priced at arm’s length. If the ATO considers the pricing to be incorrect, it can adjust your taxable income. The rules also require contemporaneous documentation to be prepared and maintained, and failure to do so exposes you to higher penalties in any ATO dispute.
What is the controlled foreign company (CFC) regime and when does it apply?
The CFC regime can apply when an Australian resident controls a company resident in another country. Where it applies, certain types of income earned offshore can be attributed to the Australian controller and taxed in Australia even if the offshore company retains the money. Whether the rules apply depends on the jurisdiction and the nature of the income.
Do Australian tax treaties help reduce the tax burden on overseas income?
Tax-efficient offshore structure
Full ATO compliance confidence
Transfer pricing documentation
Structure your offshore expansion correctly from day one.
Don't let the ATO follow your offshore profits home.
- We will review your proposed offshore structure and identify all relevant Australian tax risks.
- We will advise on the optimal vehicle and jurisdiction for your overseas investment or operations.
- We will prepare transfer pricing documentation to protect you from ATO adjustment risk.
- We will advise on how to access Australia's tax treaties to reduce cross-border tax exposure.
- We will support your ongoing international tax compliance as your structure evolves.
When your business is ready to expand offshore but the tax risks are still unclear
You have built a successful business in Australia and are now ready to expand into overseas markets. You have identified the right jurisdiction and have a clear commercial rationale. But the tax implications are unclear.
You need to know which entity structure to use, how to manage the flow of profits back to Australia, what transfer pricing documentation is required, and how to ensure the structure holds up to ATO scrutiny. You cannot afford to establish offshore operations and discover the tax problem afterwards.
What's included in your international tax structuring advice
- Offshore structure review and tax risk assessment.
- Written advice on optimal vehicle and jurisdiction.
- Transfer pricing documentation.
- Tax treaty access analysis.
- Ongoing international tax compliance support.
Plan your offshore structure before you cross the border.
You are expanding offshore without an internationally-optimised tax structure — and the ATO has extensive rules designed to capture exactly that income. CFC provisions, transfer pricing requirements, and thin capitalisation rules all apply, but their interaction with your specific structure is complex.
Without specialist advice, you risk attributing offshore income at the wrong time, failing to document transfer pricing correctly, and exposing yourself to ATO audit. Once the structure is in place and commercial operations have begun, unravelling it to fix tax problems is expensive, disruptive, and sometimes impossible.
From offshore ambition to a tax-efficient international structure
We provide a full analysis of your proposed overseas expansion, the right vehicle in the right jurisdiction, how profits flow back to Australia, what transfer pricing documentation is required, and how to minimise Australian tax while remaining fully compliant.
We draw on our expertise in the OECD BEPS framework, Australia’s CFC and transfer pricing rules, and the relevant tax treaty network to design a structure that achieves your commercial goals efficiently and withstands ATO scrutiny.
Get international tax right before you expand.
Structure review
We analyse your proposed overseas investment or expansion, the right vehicle, jurisdiction, and structuring approach, and the key Australian tax risks you need to manage.
Advice and documentation
We provide written advice on the optimal structure and prepare all required documentation, including transfer pricing documentation where needed.
Ongoing support
We support your ongoing international tax compliance, including transfer pricing reviews, CFC monitoring, and ATO correspondence.
International tax lawyers with deep expertise in Australian outbound structuring.
We know that expanding offshore is an exciting milestone, and that the last thing you want is the ATO undermining the commercial case for the expansion.
We have advised on offshore structures across the US, UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, and Europe. We understand both the Australian rules and how they interact with foreign systems, and we design practical structures that work in both jurisdictions.
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.
