Indirect taxation

Indirect taxes include the goods and services tax (GST), stamp duty, customs duty, the luxury car tax (LCT), wine equalisation tax (WET), excise duties and land taxes. While many businesses are on top of their income tax issues, they are not aware of the potential costs and pitfalls that can arise from indirect tax issues.

We have indirect tax experts who specialise in keeping up to date with these taxes. We advise on the implications for business operations and property and commercial transactions, as well as providing planning advice and compliance services.

How can we help you?

• Audit defence
• Health checks
• Business and commercial transactions
• GST consulting
• Indirect tax compliance services

Service details

A detailed description of our indirect tax services is provided below.

Audit defence
The Tax Office has increased its audit activity with respect to indirect taxes and many businesses are found to have made mistakes. Particularly with GST, the Tax Office has issued harsh penalties and assessments, even jail terms. Our indirect tax experts have significant experience in assisting clients to manage their Tax Office audits, to ensure that the Tax Office does not make any mistakes, to defend the clients' positions and to minimise penalties.

Health checks
Prevention is better than cure and the best defence against an audit is to ensure that there are you are compliant. In a BDO Kendalls health check we will stand in the shoes of a Tax Office auditor to review your systems, documents and processes, to look for any mistakes or issues before the Tax Office comes knocking. If mistakes are found, you will have opportunities to fix the problems or make voluntary disclosures prior to any audit, ensuring that any risk of penalty is minimised.

Business and commercial transactions
Major transactions involve major tax implications. We can advise you on the most tax efficient ways to make such transactions, to ensure that there are no unnecessary costs. In addition, many acquisitions require a due diligence to ensure that there are no hidden costs (tax or otherwise) which could impact on the return from the acquisition. Our indirect tax experts are involved in every transaction, to ensure that indirect taxes are not one of those hidden costs.

GST consulting
Our experts can advise you on the GST treatment of business operations, sales, purchases and other transactions, to ensure that you meet your GST obligations and maximise your cashflow.

Indirect tax compliance services
Where a client cannot undertake their compliance obligations in-house, our experienced team can provide cost effective services to ensure that all indirect tax compliance obligations are met and to ensure that the correct forms and statements are lodged on time.