To own a business in Australia (2) - register a company

A company is a separate legal entity and is registered with ASIC – Australian Security and Investment Commission. This form can be used to register a company in Australia.

The major differences between a company and a business:

1. A company name can be used Australia-wide once it is registered. It is registered with federal government. A business name is registered with state government and only effective in one state – you have to register with each state authority if you want to use a business name nationally.

2. A company is a legal entity. A business is not but the proprietor(s) must be a legal entity or legal entities. – In most case, shareholders of a company will only have limited liabilities (limited by their share) but individual business owners may have unlimited liabilities to a business.

3. Different tax rate. Income tax rate for a company is flat – 30% at the moment. Income tax rate for a sole-trader business is same as the rate for an individual which is from 0, 15% to 47% progressively. The rates will vary each year.

4. The application fee for a company is around $400 and an annual return fee of $220 is applied each year. The application fee for a business name is $137 for a three-year period and then a renewal fee is applied for every three years.

5. Only a company can use “Pty Ltd” or “Ltd” in the end of the name.

To own a business in Australia (1)

Isn’t it an exiting idea to have a business in Australia? Is it even better for getting a business registration only within 10 minutes?
I can assure you that everyone is able to do that without paying hundreds of bucks to an accountant.

If you want to have a business name registered in NSW, all you have to do is to fill an application form and lodge it with Office of Fair Trading. The fee is A$137 for three years. In the end of three years, you need to pay a renewal fee, currently is A$104.
You can register your business name with equivalent offices in other states of Australia. Fees and terms are varied in each state.

There is no assets requirement to get a business name registered. Restrictions do apply to some special industries, for example, a doctor needs to present his/her general practice certificate to open a surgery business, an accountant needs to have his/her membership card sighted by the registration officer to have a Chartered Accountant business, and most of the franchisees needs to get an approval letter from the franchiser before they can register the chain-store name. But surprisingly, some businesses don’t have to submit any documents to get their names registered – such as a brothel!
You can click this link to find out business registration information in all states of Australia.