Australia

Starting a Business in

Australia

Listed below is a detailed summary of the bureaucratic and legal hurdles an entrepreneur must overcome in order to incorporate and register a new firm, along with their associated time and set-up costs.  It examines the procedures, time and cost involved in launching a commercial or industrial firm with up to 50 employees and start-up capital of 10 times the economy's per-capita gross national income (GNI).

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Standardized Company

  • Legal Form: Proprietary Company (Pty Ltd)
  • City: Sydney

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Complete and lodge ASIC Form 201 “Application for Registration as an Australian Company"; Obtain a certificate of incorporation and an Australian company number (ACN)

To register a Pty Ltd company, the applicant must complete and submit an ASIC Form 201 ("Application for Registration as an Australian Company")
and pay the prescribed fee of AUD 412.
Any person to be appointed as a director or secretary of the company must have first consented in writing to that appointment. Similarly, each
shareholder of the company must have consented to become a shareholder.
At least 1 director (and, if the company has appointed secretaries, at least 1 secretary) must ordinarily reside in Australia. The registered office of the
company must be an address in Australia.
The company may adopt its own constitution or rely upon the Replaceable Rules in the Corporations Act 2001.
Prior to lodging the application for registration, the applicant should confirm the availability of the proposed company name. If no name is specified, the company will simply be referred to by its Australian Company Number ("ACN").]
1 day AUD 412
2 Register for ABN with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO)

This procedure is required under the Income Tax Assesment Act 1936 and a new tax system ( Goods and Services Tax) act of 1999.
Depending on the company circumstances and location, it must comply with different taxation requirements:
- If the annual company turnover is AUD$75,000 or more, the company must register for Goods and Services Tax (GST) by obtaining an 11-digit Australian Business Number (ABN). The annual company turnover represents its gross business income (not its profit). Companies with lower annual turnover may also choose to register for the Goods and Services Tax. An application for an ABN can be submitted electronically at the Business Entry Point, www.abr.business.gov.au. Otherwise, the application may be submitted by hard copy to the ATO. If electronic submission is successful, the applicant will be provided with an ABN at the end of the Internet session. The ATO will also mail the ABN within 28 days of receipt of the application.
-The company must deduct tax from employee pay, provide payment summaries, contribute to employee superannuation, and report and issue payments to the ATO. Companies may also register for Pay As You Go (PAYG) at www.abr.gov.au. Otherwise, they may register with the ATO by postal mail or phone or through a tax agent. State and territory taxes (e.g., stamp duty, payroll tax, and land tax) may also be imposed, with requirements differing according to company location.
- Companies with annual turnover of AUD$75,000 or more must register for an ABN. Failure to do so will result in GST being levied on all company sales since the required date of registration – even if the sale price of any goods or services has not been grossed up to include the tax. Furthermore, the company may incur penalties and interest charges for any overdue payments.
1 day no charge
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