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3. Status of company

Last updated 8 December 2020

The status of a company is defined with reference to several sections of the income tax law. It is important that you correctly complete this item as the information is used for multiple purposes including assessment, verification activities and for the purposes of the annual corporate tax transparency report.

In this section:

C – Residency – labels C1, C2 and C3

Print X in the box that shows the appropriate description.

Residency status is not required if you select D7 Corporate unit trust or D8 Public trading trust.

Complete C3 if the company is a non-resident company carrying on a business in Australia through a permanent establishment (PE).

D – Entity type – labels D1 to D10

Print X in the box that shows the appropriate description.

Only complete one of these labels. If more than one applies, select the one that appears first.

Marking the incorrect box may result in you not receiving a necessary service or material from us or could lead to incorrect targeting of audits.

A friendly society that carries on life insurance business must describe its status as D10 Public; otherwise its status is D3 Non-profit. For more information on friendly societies that carry on life insurance business, see 16 Life insurance companies and friendly societies only.

D7 Corporate unit trust applies only to trusts that were a corporate unit trust within the meaning of former section 102J of the ITAA 1936. You can only select this status if the entity’s income year started before 1 July 2016 (early balancer) or the entity is the head company of a consolidated group.

For more information see Unit trusts treated as corporate entities and Repeal of Division 6B.

D8 Public trading trust applies only to trusts that are public trading trusts as defined in section 102R of the ITAA 1936.

Legislative amendments in 2016 to modify Division 6C resulted in some trusts ceasing to be public trading trusts for income years starting on or after 1 July 2016. For more information see Unit trusts treated as corporate entities and 20% tracing rule in Division 6C.

D9 Private or D10 Public is a company's status for tax purposes, not for company law purposes. A company must determine its status (as a public or private company) for tax purposes each income year.

If you are a consolidated head company you need to indicate if you are D9 Private or D10 Public. You also need to select Z1 Consolidation head company.

E – Activity indicator – labels E1 to E3

Print X in the box that shows the appropriate description. If more than one label applies, select the one that appears first. If none apply, leave the boxes blank.

F – Business indicator – labels F1 and F2

F1

Print X at F1 if the company is a small business entity for 2019–20.

The company will be a small business entity if it is carrying on a business and has an aggregated turnover of less than $10 million. If you are an eligible small business entity it is important to indicate it at this label as it is used to correctly assess pay as you go instalments. See Eligibility.

F2

Print X at F2 if the company is a base rate entity for 2019–20. For more information about base rate entities, see Base rate entities.

A company can be both a small business and a base rate entity.

G – Significant global entity – labels G1 and G2

G1– Significant global entity

Print X at G1 if the entity was a significant global entity (SGE) at any time during the income year.

An entity is an SGE if it is:

  • a global parent entity with an annual global income of A$1 billion or more
  • a member of a group of entities consolidated for accounting purposes, and one of the other group members is a global parent entity with an annual global income of A$1 billion or more
  • a member of a notional listed company group, and one of the other group members is a global parent entity with an annual global income of A$1 billion or more.

A notional listed company group is a group of entities that would be required to be consolidated as a single group for accounting purposes if a member of that group was a listed company. Disregard any exceptions in accounting principles that may permit an entity not to consolidate with other entities.

An entity is also a SGE if it, or any other member of the actual or notional accounting consolidated group of which the entity is a member, has been given a notice by the Commissioner determining that its global parent entity would have an annual global income of A$1 billion or more for any period during the income year.

If an entity is a SGE for an income year that commences earlier than 1 July 2019, that is, an early balancer, it must answer item 5 in the Company tax return. To ensure that item 5 can be completed, the entity must also print X at G2 at item 3 Status of Company.

For more information, see Significant global entities.

G2 – Country by country reporting entity

Print X at G2 if the entity was a Country by country reporting entity (CBC reporting entity) at the end of the income year.

An entity is a CBC reporting entity if it is:

  • a country by country reporting parent
  • a member of a country by country reporting group, and one of the other group members is a CBC reporting parent with an annual global income of A$1 billion or more

A country by country reporting group may be a group that is consolidated for accounting purposes as a single group or a notional listed company group. A notional listed company group is a group of entities that would be required to be consolidated as a single group for accounting purposes if a member of that group was a listed company. Unlike the SGE definition, the exception to consolidation in the accounting principles related to investment entities is not disregarded; that is, if applicable, when determining whether an entity is a CBC reporting entity, the investment entity exception in the accounting principles should be applied.

If an entity is a CBC reporting entity, it will have CBC reporting and GPFS obligations:

  • CBC reporting obligations depend on whether an entity was a CbC reporting entity at any time in the preceding income year.
  • GPFS obligations depend on whether you meet the definition of a CBC reporting entity for that income year.

If you are a CBC reporting entity, you must complete item 5 in the Company tax return.

If an entity is a SGE for an income year that commences earlier than 1 July 2019, that is, an early balancer, it must answer item 5 in the Company tax return. To ensure that item 5 can be completed, the entity must also print X at G2 at item 3 Status of Company.

See also:

Z – Consolidated indicator – labels Z1 and Z2

Print X in the box that shows the appropriate description. Only complete one of these labels.

  • Select Z1 Consolidated head company if the company was a head company of a consolidated or MEC group at any time during the income year. Consolidated head companies need to indicate if they are D9 Private or D10 Public.
  • Select Z2 Consolidated subsidiary member if Z1 does not apply and the company was a subsidiary member of a consolidated or MEC group that had a period when it was not a member of the group (non-membership period) during the income year. For more information, see Subsidiary member – non-membership period.

If neither applies, leave the boxes blank.

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