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This edited version has been archived due to the length of time since original publication. It should not be regarded as indicative of the ATO's current views. The law may have changed since original publication, and views in the edited version may also be affected by subsequent precedents and new approaches to the application of the law.

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Edited version of your written advice

Authorisation Number: 1051338195433

Date of advice: 20 February 2018

Ruling

Subject: Partnerships and corporate limited partnerships

Question 1

Will Trust A, Company B and Limited Partnership C, associated in partnership (the Initial Partnership) be entitled to make an election under subsection 70-100(4) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997), in respect of items of trading stock acquired in purchasing the business, if the book values of the items are less than the market values of the items on the day of purchase?

Answer

Yes

Question 2

Can Trust A (as Transferor) and the partners in the Initial Partnership (as Transferee) choose to apply roll-over relief under subsection 40-340(3) of the ITAA 1997 in respect of the items of depreciable plant acquired in purchasing the business?

Answer

Yes. So long as the choice is made jointly by the Transferor and the Transferee.

Question 3

Will CGT event A1, under section 104-10 of the ITAA 1997, happen to any assets of the Initial Partnership when it converts to a limited partnership (LP) that is a corporate limited partnership (CLP) under section 94D of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (ITAA 1936)

Answer

No

Question 4

Will items of trading stock held by the Initial Partnership be deemed to be disposed of to the LP/CLP, pursuant to section 70-100 of the ITAA 1997, when it converts to a LP/CLP?

Answer

No

Question 5

Will converting to the LP/CLP result in a balancing adjustment event occurring in respect of depreciating assets of the Initial Partnership pursuant to subsection 40-295(2) of the ITAA 1997?

Answer

Yes. The roll-over relief provided in subsection 40-340(3) of the ITAA 1997 can be chosen by the Transferor and Transferee at the time of the balancing adjustment event.

Question 6

Will the first element of the cost base of the goodwill, after the Initial Partnership coverts to the LP/CLP, be the amounts paid by Limited Partnership C and Company B for their respective interests in the goodwill, under section 110-25 of the ITAA 1997?

Answer

Yes

Question 7

Will the first element of the cost base of the goodwill, after the Initial Partnership converts to the LP/CLP, be the market value of the goodwill at the date of conversion to the CLP under section 112-20 of the ITAA 1997?

Answer

No

This ruling applies for the following periods:

Year ending 30 June 2018

Year ending 30 June 2019

Year ending 30 June 2020

Year ending 30 June 2021

Year ending 30 June 2022

The scheme commences on:

22 November 2017

Relevant facts and circumstances

Trust A operates a business manufacturing and installing architectural systems.

Trust A has agreed to sell a X% interest in the goodwill and net assets of the business (excluding cash at bank and debtors) to Company B and Limited Partnership C.

Company B was incorporated on DDMMYY.

Limited Partnership C will be the name of a Limited Liability Partnership that will be registered in State A prior to the sale taking place.

Trust A proposes to take the following steps:

The parties have agreed on a value of goodwill. This price was negotiated between the parties based on their own view of the value of the business. The price has not been based on a valuation.

The remaining net assets (including depreciable plant and equipment and trading stock) will be transferred at book value for the purpose of the transaction.

Limited Partnership C will pay X% of the agreed goodwill value to Trust A for the acquisition of its interest in the goodwill and X% of the book value of remaining assets.

Company B will pay X% of the agreed goodwill value to Trust A for the acquisition of its interest in goodwill and X% of the book value of remaining assets.

Trust A currently has a nominal cost base for the goodwill in the business.

The contract for sale has not been finalised and is still under negotiation.

Partnership Agreements have not yet been prepared for either the Initial partnership or the subsequent limited partnership.

Relevant legislative provisions

Income Tax Assessment Act 1936

Income Tax Assessment Act 1997

Partnership Act 1891 (State A)

Reasons for decision

Question 1

Summary

The Initial Partnership will be entitled to make an election under subsection 70-100(4) of the ITAA 1997 in respect of the items of trading stock acquired if the book values of the items are less than the market values on the day of purchase.

Detailed reasoning

Under subsection 70-100(1) of the ITAA 1997 an item of trading stock is treated as having been disposed of outside the ordinary course of business if it stops being trading stock on hand (TSOH) of an entity (the transferor) and, immediately afterwards:

Ordinarily:

However, subsection 70-100(4) of the ITAA 1997 provides that an election can be made to treat the items of trading stock as having been disposed of for the value that would have been its value as TSOH of the transferor (the book value) at the end of an income year ending on the day it stops being TSOH of the transferor.

If an election is made, the book value is included in the transferor’s assessable income for the income year that includes that day, and the transferee is treated as having bought the item for the same value on that day.

Under subsection 70-100(6) of the ITAA 1997 this election can only be made if:

The term “interest in” an asset is not defined in the ITAA 1997 or ITAA 1936 as such it takes its ordinary meaning, which the Macquarie Dictionary includes, among other things, to mean:

Taxation Ruling IT 2540 Income tax: capital gains: application to disposals of partnership assets and partnership interests (IT 2540), at paragraph 2, explains that the title to partnership assets is legally vested in the partners.

This view accords with the opinion expressed by the majority (Barwick CJ., Stephen, Mason and Wilson JJ.) of the Full High Court of Australia in F.C.T v Everett (1980) 143 CLR 440 (Everett) at page 446:

“Although a partner has no title to specific property owned by the partnership, he has a beneficial interest in the partnership assets, indeed in each and every asset of the partnership.”

Under the proposed sale of the business currently owned solely by Trust A, Trust A will retain X% of the trading stock in the business, whilst Limited Partnership C and Company B will own X% and 1% respectively.

This arrangement satisfies the requirements of subsection 70-100(1) as Trust A will no longer be the item’s sole owner, but will have an interest in the trading stock following the sale.

Under the proposed sale, the business will continue to operate so that immediately after the trading stock stops being solely owned by Trust A, it will be an asset of a business carried on by the transferee, the Initial Partnership. Also, at this time Trust A will retain an interest greater than X% of the trading stock’s market value on that day.

As such, so long as the book values of the items of trading stock are less than their market values on the day of the change of ownership, the Initial Partnership can make an election under subsection 70-100(4) of the ITAA 1997 in relation to the items of trading stock.

NOTE: Where an item of trading stock is a “thing in action”, an election cannot be made in respect of that item.

Question 2

Can Trust A (as Transferor) and the partners in the Initial Partnership (as Transferee) choose to apply roll-over relief under subsection 40-340(3) of the ITAA 1997 in respect of the items of depreciable plant acquired in purchasing the business?

Summary

Yes. Trust A and the partners of the Initial Partnership can choose the roll-over relief in subsection 40-340(3) of the ITAA 1997 in respect of the items of depreciable plant acquired in purchasing the business, so long as the choice is jointly made by the Transferor and the Transferee.

Detailed reasoning

Subsection 40-340(3) of the ITAA 1997 provides roll-over relief if:

Subsection 40-295(2) of the ITAA 1997 establishes that a balancing adjustment event occurs for a depreciating asset if:

Section 40-40 of the ITAA 1997 provides assistance in working out who ‘holds’ a depreciating asset, which at:

As discussed in question 1, the term “interest in” an asset is not defined for tax purposes and as such takes its ordinary meaning.

Trust A currently has holds the depreciating assets of the business. As a result of the proposed sale:

As such, paragraphs 40-295(2)(a) and (b) are satisfied.

The term ‘partnership asset’ is not defined for tax purposes however subsection 23(1) the Partnership Act 1891 (State A) (the State A Partnership Act) provides the following definition of ‘partnership property’:

(1) All property and rights and interests in property originally brought into the partnership stock or acquired, whether by purchase or otherwise, on account of the firm, or for the purposes and in the course of the partnership business (partnership property) must be held and applied by the partners exclusively for the purposes of the partnership and in accordance with the partnership agreement.

Although, various modifications to the general laws of partnership are made under Part 3 of Chapter 3 of the State A Partnership Act makes in respect of LPs, however, no changes are made in relation to subsection 23(1) of that Act.

Further explanation regarding partnership property was provided in O’Brien v. Komesaroff 150 CLR 310; 41 ALR 255, in which Mason J clarified that:

From the words of Mason J it can be seen that the agreement between the partners, together with actions and intentions of the partners, will finally and ultimately determine the question of what property is ‘partnership property’.

As proposed, the business will be run by the Initial Partnership, and the depreciating assets of the business that were purchased from Trust A will be exclusively used to generate income under the partnership agreement.

As such, the Commissioner accepts that the depreciating assets will be brought into the partnership exclusively for the purposes of the partnership and will be ‘partnership assets’ as a result of the change; and that paragraph 40-295(2)(c) is satisfied.

Under the proposed sale, a balancing adjustment event under subsection 40-295(2) of the ITAA 1997 would occur for the depreciating assets of the business at the time of the sale of the assets.

As such, Trust A (as Transferor) and the partners of the Initial Partnership (as Transferee) will be entitled to choose the roll-over relief in subsection 40-340(3) of the ITAA 1997 in respect of the items of depreciable plant acquired in purchasing the business under the proposed sale, so long as the choice is jointly made by the Transferor and the Transferee.

Question 3

Will CGT event A1, under section 104-10 of the ITAA 1997, happen to the assets of the Initial Partnership when it converts to a LP that is a CLP (the LP/CLP) under section 94D of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (ITAA 1936)

Summary

No. As there has been no change in ownership of the assets, CGT event A1 does not happen when the Initial Partnership converts to the LP/CLP.

Detailed reasoning

For tax purposes, the term ‘limited partnership’ means an association of persons (that is not itself a company), carrying on business as partners or in receipt of ordinary income or statutory income jointly, where the liability of at least one of those persons is limited (section 995-1 of the ITAA 1997).

You advise that after a time as a general law partnership, the partners will enter an agreement whereby the liability of Trust A and Limited Partnership C will be limited (Company B will be the general partner). At this time, the partners will register as a LP under section 50 of the State A Partnership Act.

As the partners will be carrying on business, and will be in receipt of ordinary and statutory income jointly, the definition of a LP will be satisfied.

For the 1995/96 and later years, a LP is known as a CLP, in relation to a year of income, for the purposes of Division 5A of the ITAA 1936 (paragraph 94D(1)(a)).

The object of Division 5A is to treat CLPs as companies for tax purposes (section 94A of the ITAA 1936). The Division modifies definitions in the tax law by deeming, amongst other things, that:

As proposed, at the time the LP satisfies the tax law definition of a LP:

Subsection 104-10(1) of the ITAA 1997 provides that CGT Event A1 happens if you dispose of a CGT asset. You dispose of a CGT asset if a change of ownership occurs from you to another entity, whether because of some act or event or by operation of law. However, a change of ownership does not occur if you stop being the legal owner of the asset but continue to be its beneficial owner (subsection 104-10(2) of the ITAA 1997).

Although section 106-5 of the ITAA 1997 provides that any capital gains or losses from a CGT event happening in relation to a partnership or one of its CGT assets is made by the partners individually, as a consequence of section 94K of the ITAA 1936, this does not apply to CLPs.

ATO ID 2010/210 Income Tax CGT event A1: partnership becomes corporate limited partnership (ATO ID 2010/210) refers to the relevant state legislation to determine whether, upon converting to a LP, a change in ownership occurs in relation to the partnership or the partnership assets.

The ATO ID explains that converting to a LP does not cause the original partnership to cease, it merely varies the mutual rights and duties that exist between the partners. Although, under Division 5A of the ITAA 1936, the LP/CLP is treated as a company for income tax purposes, this does not convert the LP/CLP into a company. Further, Division 5A of the ITAA 1936 does not modify the operation of section 104-10 of the ITAA 1997 such that a CGT event happens on converting to a LP/CLP.

As there would be no change in ownership of the assets when the Initial Partnership converts to the LP/CLP under the proposed arrangement, CGT event A1 would not happen.

Question 4

Will items of trading stock held by the Initial Partnership be deemed to be disposed of to the LP/CLP, pursuant to section 70-100 of the ITAA 1997, when it converts to a LP/CLP?

Summary

No. As the trading stock will remain ‘partnership property’, held by the partners and applied exclusively for partnership purposes by the partners, there is no deemed disposal of the trading stock.

Detailed reasoning

As discussed in question 1, an item of trading stock is treated as having been disposed of outside the ordinary course of business if it stops being trading stock on hand of an entity (the transferor) and, immediately afterwards:

As discussed in question 3, ATO ID 2010/210 considers whether a change in ownership occurs in relation to the partnership or the partnership assets on converting to a LP. Converting to a LP does not cause the original partnership to cease it merely varies the mutual rights and duties that exist between the partners.

Treatment of a CLP as a company for the purposes of the ITAA 1997 and ITAA 1936 does not deem there to be a transfer of the ownership of partnership assets to a new company nor does it change the ownership of partnership assets under general law.

Section 70-100 of the ITAA 1997 only applies where the owner of the trading stock ceases to be the sole owner, but retains an interest in the trading stock.

As proposed, when the partners in the Initial Partnership convert to a LP and treatment as a CLP begins, there is no change of ownership of the trading stock – Trust A, Company B and Limited Partnership C will remain the owners of the trading stock both before and after the conversion.

As such, there is no deemed disposal of the trading stock when the Initial Partnership converts to a LP and begins treatment as a CLP (which is subsequently taxed as a company).

Question 5

Will converting to the LP/CLP result in a balancing adjustment event occurring in respect of depreciating assets of the Initial Partnership pursuant to section 40-295(2) of the ITAA 1997?

Summary

Yes. The conversion to a LP/CLP will result in a balancing adjustment event occurring in respect of depreciating assets pursuant to section 40-295(2) of the ITAA 1997.

Detailed reasoning

Subsection 40-295(2) of the ITAA 1997 establishes that a balancing adjustment event occurs for a depreciating asset if:

As a consequence of Division 5A of the ITAA 1936, item 7 of section 40-40 of the ITAA 1997 no longer applies to the CLP. As such, whereas before converting to a CLP the depreciating assets would be held by the partnership, after converting they are held by their owner, or the legal owner if there is both a legal and an equitable owner’.

Under the proposed arrangement, whilst it is clear there is no underlying change in the ownership of the partnership asset on converting to a limited partnership, as a consequence of applying Division 5A of the ITAA 1936 a change does occur in the ‘holding of the asset’ as defined, and a balancing adjustment event occurs under subsection 40-295(2) of the ITAA 1997.

Question 6

Will the first element of the cost base of the goodwill, after the Initial Partnership coverts to the LP/CLP, be the amounts paid by Limited Partnership C and Company B for their respective interests in the goodwill, under section 110-25 of the ITAA 1997?

Summary

Yes. The first element of the goodwill’s cost base will be the amounts paid by Limited Partnership C and Company B to acquire the goodwill at the date of formation of the Initial Partnership.

Detailed reasoning

The first element of the cost base of a CGT asset (and, in relation to capital losses, the reduced cost base of a CGT asset) is the total of:

Subdivision 106A of the ITAA 1997 sets out how the CGT provisions apply to partnerships, but it is not relevant to determining the cost base following formation of the CLP. This is because Division 5A of the ITAA 1936 requires that any reference to the term ‘partnership’ in the income tax law be read as not including a reference to a CLP.

A CLP is taken to be a separate entity for the purposes of calculating tax payable (Resource Capital Fund IV LP v Commissioner of Taxation [2018] FCA 41 (RCF IV) at [15]). This means that for the purposes of calculating whether a capital gain arises on the disposal of a partnership asset, and the amount of any such gain, the CLP is taken to be the relevant entity. However, the partners will be jointly and severally liable for any tax payable (section 94V of the ITAA 1936).

Goodwill, as an asset, is inseparable from the conduct of a business and cannot be dealt with separately from the business with which it is associated (Taxation Ruling TR 1999/16 Income tax: capital gains: goodwill of a business (TR 1999/16)). A partner who owns an interest in goodwill of a partnership business cannot sell the asset independently from the business. As such, goodwill of a business operated by a partnership is a partnership asset.

The capital gain on any disposal of the goodwill is determined by subtracting the CLP’s cost base from its capital proceeds.

Under paragraph 110-25(2)(a) of the ITAA 1997, the first element of a taxpayer’s cost base consists of the amount the taxpayer paid to acquire the asset. If an asset was acquired by partners prior to the formation of a CLP, we consider first element of the cost base for the CLP will be equal to the amount paid by the partners to acquire the asset.

This is because, although the CLP is treated as an entity (for tax purposes), the “factual and legal reality” (RCF IV at [14]) remains that it is merely a relationship between persons. And, having regard to context (including the policy intent of the CGT provisions), we consider it correct to view the price paid by these persons to acquire an asset as the first element of the CLP’s cost base for that asset. The alternative view is that the first element of the CLP’s cost base is zero on the basis that it, as a separate tax entity, did not acquire the assets (as against the partners). However, we consider this view fails to have proper regard to context and the factual and legal reality.

As a LP/CLP, corporate tax rates apply to work out tax payable on any capital gains from CGT events happening to the goodwill of the business (for example, if a new partner joins the partnership and acquires an interest in the goodwill, or if the partnership sells part of the business together with a portion of the goodwill that can be attributed to that part of the business).

Under the proposed arrangement, Limited Partnership C and Company B will pay money in respect of acquiring an interest in the goodwill of the business that is operated by the partnership.

In line with the intent of the CGT provisions, the partners in association as the LP/CLP are entitled to:

The first element of the cost base of the goodwill will be the amounts paid by Limited Partnership C and Company B to acquire the goodwill. As Trust A did not pay any amount to acquire the goodwill, the cost base of the goodwill in respect of Trust A is zero.

Note: where a partner exits a LP/CLP and receives capital proceeds which include an amount they paid for their interest in the partnership’s goodwill, the partner is entitled to reduce their capital proceeds by the cost base of their interest in the goodwill. At this time, the amount paid by the exiting partner in originally acquiring the goodwill of the partnership is no longer included in the cost base of the goodwill owned by the remaining partners in association as the LP/CLP.

Question 7

Will the first element of the CLP’s cost base for the goodwill of the business be equal to the market value of the goodwill at the date of formation of the CLP under section 112-20 of the ITAA 1997?

Summary

No. The first element of the cost base for the goodwill will be the amounts paid by Limited Partnership C and Company B to acquire the goodwill at the date of formation of the Initial Partnership.

Detailed reasoning

Section 112-20 of the ITAA 1997 provides that the first element of your cost base and reduced cost base of a CGT asset you acquire from another entity is its market value (at the time of acquisition) if:

Under the proposed arrangement, Limited Partnership C and Company B will incur expenditure to purchase an interest in the goodwill of the Initial Partnership.

Section 112-20 would only apply to work out the cost base if when initially purchasing their interest in the goodwill Limited Partnership C and Company B do not incur any expenditure or do not deal at arm’s length with Trust A when acquiring the assets. This is not the case under the proposed arrangement.

When the Initial Partnership converts to a LP, and treatment as a CLP begins to apply, no CGT event occurs and the CLP does not acquire the goodwill. Section 112-20 cannot apply at this point as an acquisition does not occur.

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