Commercial deals

How privately owned and wealthy groups can get a pre-lodgment agreement for certainty on commercial deals.

What is a commercial deal?

We define a commercial deal as any significant business transaction that may affect the structure of your business. Some examples of this may include:

• financing and refinancing
• initial public offerings
• mergers and acquisitions
• restructures
• sale of business (partial or complete) or business assets
• sale of commercial property
• share buybacks
• takeovers.

Our commercial deals service can provide practical certainty on these events. The ideal time for engagement is after the transaction completes and prior to lodgement. We can provide certainty on the tax treatment of a settled fact pattern before you lodge.

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You can ask to talk to us about your commercial deal by emailing eerequest@ato.gov.au

Advantages of engaging with us

If you have recently completed a commercial deal, we can work with you to understand your circumstances and address any potential issues as soon as possible.

If you engage with us, we can:

• help resolve tax technical issues relating to the deal
• work towards agreement on the tax position you intend to take
• help you meet your tax obligations and reduce the likelihood of a review.

Working transparently with us can achieve mutual resolution of tax issues prior to lodgment and help avoid tax disputes post-lodgment.

If agreement is reached and lodgment is received as agreed, we will not conduct a review or audit for the commercial deal transaction in question.

This increases certainty around how the tax law applies to your circumstances.

Engage with us early

The earlier you commence discussions with us about your completed commercial deal the better. We can work with you to get the right tax position before you lodge your tax return. By reaching a pre-lodgement agreement with us, you can avoid potential post-lodgment tax disputes, as well as shortfall penalties and interest.

After you have completed a deal, we will work together to ascertain the relevant facts to reach an agreement on how the transaction will be reported for tax purposes. We may still contact you post-lodgment to confirm that you reported as agreed.

Request a pre-lodgment agreement about your commercial deal by emailing eerequest@ato.gov.au.

For further information on our services, see The right services.

How privately owned and wealthy groups get a pre-lodgment agreement for certainty on commercial deals.