Capital management

Published on 01 Jun 14 by "THE TAX SPECIALIST" JOURNAL ARTICLE

Capital management, including raising and returning capital, carries with it a range of taxation implications, some of which exhibit a degree of uncertainty. Much of that uncertainty arises from the practice of the ATO and the discretions afforded the Commissioner of Taxation under a number of specific integrity measures. This article is intended to provide an update on the key Australian income tax issues, ATO administrative practice, and current tax reviews for corporates and their shareholders, in relation to undertaking capital management initiatives.

The article is, broadly, in two parts. The first part considers capital raisings by non-financial corporates through the use of hybrid securities and rights issues that use so-called retail premiums. The second part deals with returning capital to shareholders, including share buy-backs, returns of capital, and tainting of the share capital account.

Author profiles:

Cameron Blackwood ATI

Cameron brings more than a decade of transactional tax expertise to his role as Director in Greenwoods & Herbert Smith Freehills’ Sydney office. He specialises in advising clients on the tax complexities of mergers, acquisitions and restructures, including cross-border issues and all aspects of employee share schemes. After joining the firm as a graduate in 2004, Cameron built his corporate experience advising companies and on a wide range of advisory and compliance matters, including a secondment with BHP Billiton. His industry knowledge is broad and includes the mining, real estate and financial services sectors. Current at 27 June 2016 Click here to expand/collapse more articles by Cameron BLACKWOOD.
 

Richard Hendriks CTA

Richard has been a Director of Greenwoods & Freehills since 1998. Richard advises on a wide range of corporate tax matters. He has extensive experience in advising listed companies and stapled groups on mergers and acquisitions, demergers, company restructures and capital management transactions. Richard also advises listed groups on employee share and rights plans. Current at 06 February 2014 Click here to expand/collapse more articles by Richard HENDRIKS.