How to open a shop in Melbourne, Australia

Any enterprise established and operated in Australia must be registered with the Australian Securities Commission. Except for a few, Australian business organizations can be divided into three categories.

(1) general business registration;

(2) Private limited company;

(3) public companies.

Ordinary industrial and commercial registration is commonly known as Unlimited Company, and the establishment process is very simple. Applicants for registration first choose a business name, then go to the business registration office to collect and fill out a very simple form and pay a registration fee of 75 Australian dollars. If the name you choose does not conflict with any existing business, the business registration office can issue a business registration certificate within three weeks. If the selected company has been acquired by others, you must choose another name. This kind of industrial and commercial registration can be wholly-owned or shares of most shareholders, which is suitable for small enterprises.

Private limited companies must be established in accordance with the company laws of the provinces. The way of its establishment is very complicated, and it is necessary to invite accountants, lawyers or special agents to set up the company's institutions. Government fees and agency fees range from 1500 Australian dollars to more than 2000 Australian dollars. A private limited company must have at least two shareholders and directors, the most prominent of which is the right of "limited creditor's rights". After its establishment, the company has its own independent status, which has nothing to do with shareholders' personal assets under normal circumstances. Private limited companies do not need to be audited in Australia, which is quite suitable for small and medium-sized institutions. Australian companies are established under this system. General business registration can also be a branch of a private limited company.

A public limited company is a larger organization, and its establishment process is more complicated than that of a private limited company, and there is a prescribed minimum number of shareholders. The government strictly controls such companies, and public companies are divided into two categories: listed companies and unlisted companies. Because this kind of company belongs to the system of large institutions, it is not suitable for ordinary merchants.

In terms of taxation, the institutions established according to the general business registration law are private institutions, and profits will be taxed according to the individual income tax rate of investment shareholders.

Limited company has its own independent system, which is also separated from the personal income of shareholders for tax purposes. At present, the company's profit tax rate is 33%, and after-tax dividends are tax-free, which will not become a tax assessment item for shareholders' personal income.

New immigrants should pay attention to whether the shareholders are Australian residents when organizing a company. If about 25% of the shareholders are overseas residents, the company may be regarded as an overseas company and need to go through the formalities for foreign investment with the Ministry of Finance. In addition to industrial and commercial registration, many industries have to apply for business licenses. Shops need to get a license from the local municipal government, and import and export enterprises have many import quotas. In addition, many other industries, such as professional offices, hydropower engineering and construction engineering, are supervised by individual trade unions or other organizations. If you want to start a business, you must get a license first. The difficulty and requirements of applying for a license vary from industry to industry, so it is impossible to handle it uniformly. In terms of foreign investment policy, Australia encourages foreign investment, but has always maintained a foreign investment review system. This system implements "notification" and "prior approval" for some sensitive industries and foreign-funded projects with huge investment. After 1997, the Australian government further relaxed the examination and approval procedures for foreign investment and increased its efforts to attract foreign investment, with the goal of gradually developing Australia into a global financial center and an "excellent manufacturer".

In addition to income tax, there are many taxes related to enterprises, the most common of which are as follows:

-Sales tax (sales tax)

-IPMORT tariffs, etc.

-Stamp duty

-Bank account transaction tax (FID and debit tax)

-Employee tax (payroll tax)

Business tax is an additional tax levied when goods change hands. The tax collection point is usually defined when the end user is resold. The business tax rate is relatively high, reaching more than 20%. Import tariffs vary from goods to goods, and the highest can reach more than 100%. Other taxes are small in number and have little impact on business.

The income tax rate of Australian enterprises is 30%, and there is no tax exemption. Partnerships and investment companies do not need to pay income tax. The personal tax rates for 2005/06 are as follows:

0 - $6,000 0%

For $6,001-$21,600 17% $2 1, 600, $2,652 is required.

$2 1, 60 1-$ 63000 30% $63000 is subject to $ 15072.

$63,001-$80,000 42% $80,000 needs $22,265,438+02.

$80,000 + 47%

In addition to the above, there is 1.5% medical insurance. For example, if the income of an individual enterprise exceeds $50,000 and there is no medical insurance hospital, the additional tax is 1%. If the income of husband and wife exceeds $65,438+000,000 and there is no medical insurance hospital, in this case, the additional tax of a family is 65,438+0%.

Low-income people and people living on pensions can offset some taxes.

Having a legitimate business in Australia can not only make you have a legitimate income, but also turn many of your necessary expenses into legal tax-deductible consumption, especially family business. If your residence is an office address, at least part of the rent, water, electricity and gasoline can be used as legal business consumption.

There are two ways to do business in Australia: one is to acquire enterprises, and the other is to start your own business.

Buying a business means buying the original business owner's shops, goods, purchase channels, leases and user groups together. This is the easiest way for new immigrants to invest in business, but it will cost at least ten times the monthly profit to buy a business. The purchase business first observes its geographical location and user base, and whether there is peer competition. Build your business in a shopping mall with a large flow of people, or in an area with inconvenient transportation but relatively rich residents (Australians prefer to buy scattered items nearby, even if the price is 50% higher, besides shopping in a big shopping mall once a week). Before buying, you'd better find an accountant to help you check the information provided by the original business owner to see if there is any suitable profit. Ask a lawyer to give you advice and go through the purchase procedures, so as not to leave a lot of sequelae after buying business.

It's much cheaper to start your own business than to buy it yourself. In Australia, if you don't do import and export or big business, you have some small income. If you want to legalize these income, you must register an Australian enterprise-you don't have to register as a limited company. Registered enterprises require applicants to be at least 18 years old and live in Australia. There are several steps to start your own business: investigate the location and user base of the business you want to do, and whether there is peer competition. Try not to repeat business unless it is in a densely populated area. Price reduction competition is tiring and inefficient. Ask if the local government allows you to set up the business you want in the planned location. Counting the cost of business, equipment investment, goods investment, at least three months of mortgage, decoration and billboards, if your business needs a license plate, it is not a small expense, commercial insurance and so on. If the funds are insufficient, whether to find a lending institution. In Australia, both funds and banks provide commercial loans. You can also ask the accountant to check it for you if necessary. Registered industrial and commercial and business tax number (ABN), applied for license (if necessary), registered company (if necessary), registered property right trademark (if necessary).

In terms of import and export business, there are many differences between engaging in import and export business in the form of a natural person and a legal person, mainly: in the form of a legal person, you will hold the company code, and you can apply for deferred payment of consumption tax (GST) when you declare imported goods, and then pay the consumption tax after the goods are sold; In the form of natural persons, the consumption tax must be paid in full when the imported goods are declared. In Australia, it is rare to engage in import and export business in the form of natural persons.

If you register an Australian company to engage in import and export business, you need to go through the following procedures:

1, in Australia "Securities Investment Committee" (Australian Securities &; Investment Committee) registered enterprises. The procedure of enterprise registration includes selecting the company name, formulating the articles of association, obtaining the consent of the company's investors and submitting the registration form. In the registration form, an enterprise can declare that it will engage in import and export business. After receiving the application for enterprise registration, the Securities and Investment Committee will issue the enterprise registration certificate and the company code (Australian company number), which is the 9-digit code of each enterprise. When registering a company, the registrant does not need to submit the qualification certificate, but the registered capital is 1 Australian dollar.

2. Go to the Australian Taxation Bureau for tax registration and obtain the enterprise code (Australian enterprise number), which is the top two of the "company code".

3. Enterprises can register in the customs and obtain the owner code. With this code, enterprises can apply for deferred payment of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in import business. Owner code is not a mandatory application.

4. Australian Customs does not have any conditions or qualification requirements for enterprises that want to engage in import and export business.

As the saying goes, "one needle can't kill two stones", the establishment of a company also has some shortcomings: the Company Law requires all companies to keep digital accounts and all current accounts after establishment, which is quite time-consuming and laborious; To set up a company, you need to pay $460 to the Australian Securities Commission. In addition, you need to pay an annual fee of 152 for private companies, an annual fee of 460 for public companies, and accounting fees. Failure to comply with the company law may be punished at any time, usually 500 Australian dollars; If you make a serious mistake, such as being accused of fraud or being a company director, you can be fined up to $50,000 and imprisoned; Investing in the name of a company also has tax problems in implementation. The value-added below the general ledger rate is all included in the company's profits. For the company, this appreciation is tax-free, but it must be distributed to shareholders by the company at the time of dividends or liquidation. However, since the company has never paid any corporate tax, this tax-free appreciation should be distributed to shareholders as income and income tax should be paid. On the contrary, if the company loses money, the loss cannot be distributed to shareholders to reduce private tax, but can only be accumulated in the company to offset the company's future income.

Of course, there are many ways to avoid taxes reasonably. For example:

1. If your spouse has no job or low income, you can consider buying stocks in his/her name. This is a very easy, simple and obvious method; But I found that many investors made this mistake. This method will be more useful after this year, because the corporate tax rate has dropped from 39% to 30%. This is not good for high-income investors who have paid dividends on postal services, because the dividend tax rebate has also been reduced from 39% to 33%. After receiving dividends, they need to pay the difference between the marginal tax rate of personal income and the corporate tax. For example, if a spouse who has no income holds shares, she gets a dividend of $4,000 a year and sells some shares, earning a capital profit of $65,438+$05,000. Calculated, taxpayers only need to pay the capital tax of 962 Australian dollars, or only 6.4% of the profits. If these stocks are held by her high-income spouse, the tax can reach almost half of the profit.

2. For people with high incomes of both husband and wife, you can consider holding shares in a family company. At present, the corporate tax rate is only 30%, which is far from the highest personal tax rate of 47%. You can keep the profits (paying 30% corporate tax) in the company and pay them as dividends when one of the incomes is low, which can save a lot of taxes. Many people think that using a trust is better than using a company, but for high-income couples, the company will be more practical and simple, and it will be easier to operate. Moreover, the trust distributes profits to individuals every year, and the time to control the distribution of profits is not high. Moreover, investment companies can also be used for lending, and all interest paid by companies can be used for tax deduction.

In addition, people who run limited companies generally submit a BAS (Business Activity Report) every quarter to pay GST value-added tax. Please arrange goods and services tax with your accountant regularly and on time.

Recently, some overseas students have joined hands to buy some small businesses, such as Internet cafes and chain cleaning businesses. This model has low investment and high return, which is more difficult than simply working.