"It's not personal. It's strictly business" But is it? 2016's Private Business Tax Retreat

The issues that private businesses bring
to the family dinner table are complex and unique. Matters of the heart and
head are both at play, requiring a skilful tax adviser to understand the art of
balancing vested interests and varying needs with commercial realities. This
year's
Private Business Tax Retreat has been designed to tackle this balance,
as well as the issues that tax advisers face when managing the affairs of a family-owned
business. Join us at the Palazzo Versace Hotel on the Gold Coast this May to
learn more...
"Don’t mix business with
pleasure", goes the age-old saying. "It’s not personal. It's strictly business",
says the Godfather. According to these adages, marrying commercial goals with
personal ones is apparently a big mistake.
But is it?
With all due respect to the
great (and fictional) Michael Corleone, business is personal, at least in Australia. Recent statistics have shown
that privately-owned family businesses make a huge contribution to the
Australian economy. In fact, they represent approximately two-thirds of the
business community*, with scope to grow.
Private business is big business
With these statistics in
place, how do tax advisers of privately-owned family businesses manage the vast
challenges that this hybrid mix of emotional needs and commercial objectives
bring? One thing is clear – that there is a real need for tax advisers
to stay on top of their game to better understand the evolving challenges that
they will continue to face.
Private businesses owned and
run by families draw out the distinctions between 'business owners', 'business
operators' and 'family members'. Advisers to these businesses need to be aware
of, design and implement strategies that take into account the individuals that
are in one, two or all three of these positions. That adds up to an adviser
being able to think strategically and implement a plan that 'speaks' to all
three, while understanding that they have very different drivers and interests.


The heart of the matter…
Now in its sixth year, the Private Business Tax Retreat does just that. The sessions are designed to explore
these interactions as well as the tax issues that arise as a result of them. Key
issues are highlighted, along with practical workshops and interactive case
studies. An impressive line-up of keynote speakers will be providing their
insights into the art (and science) of dealing with the intricacies of the family
dynamic, the key stages of growth and evolution, Div 7A requirements and governance
issues.
And that’s just the tax
technical aspect of the sessions. But as a tax advisers to privately-owned
family businesses know, there is also a very important non-technical aspect that
needs to be carefully managed.
'We are family. I got all my business
partners with me.'
You love them, you hate them.
Can’t live with them, can’t live without them.
These are the stark
dichotomies that you face as a tax adviser of a family-run business. You’re a
tax gun across tax technical issues. Tick. You probably have degrees to boot.
Another tick. But are you across the non-technical challenges? Can you
anticipate and mitigate the warning signals of internal conflict and
divergence? Are you equipped to tackle the overlap of family and business
dynamics?
Keynote speaker Emeritus Professor Ken Moores, AM  (Moores Family
Enterprise) will draw on his diverse and extensive experience in dealing with
private family firms to present insights into these dichotomies. His insights
are informed by both art and science and how, in this regard, psychology and
tax need to intermingle.
Head of Family Office at the
Myer Family Company Ltd, Maria Lui will
also share her insights into what capabilities and skills a tax adviser needs.
Taking a holistic approach, her session asks the question: ‘What is the
approach to tax risk management for the client – is it the same or different if
you are on the inside or outside?’
Value + values = success
What does success look like
for privately-owned family businesses? How do they measure it?
Where other businesses focus on
value, family businesses have an added factor that defines value: values. For these family businesses, value + values = success.
This equation capitalises on
growth, strategy, governance, achieving long-term goals and leaving legacies
for the future. It also hones in on building and maintaining healthy
relationships and fostering open communication between family members.
With that equation in mind,
other keynote speakers will take you through what success means for private
businesses and unpack the issues that typically arise, arming you with the
ability to skilfully advise a private business at every stage of a business’
evolution.
Key sessions will look into:
  • Expansion and attracting third party investors or preparing for an IPO: what are the various forms of financing?
  • How do you effectively restructure existing groups to
    remove non-core assets and ensure a structure that will attract tax-effective
    exits for existing investors?
  • Division 7A: private entity loans and unforeseen issues
    that can arise on UPE payout.
  • Family trust distributions: what is the best way about
    it?
  • Family business governance: what constituent documents
    does a family business need – and not need?
  • What are the debt/equity considerations?
What attracts the ATO’s attention in all of
this?
Leading SME tax specialist - and winner of The Tax Institute's Tax Adviser of the Year (SME) - Paul Banister, CTA (Grant Thornton) will cover the ATO's engagement strategies and governance of Private Groups
and the High Wealth market segment. Questions such as ‘How is the ATO moving
from controversy to engagement-based interactions?’ and ‘What attracts the ATO’s
attention?’ will be unpacked here.
Join us 
The issues that private
businesses bring to the family dinner table are complex and unique. Join us and
leading tax advisers at this year’s Private Business Tax Retreat to really
drill down on the challenges that advisers face and how to better tackle
them. These sessions have a bit of everything – just like a good family dinner.
Details
26 – 27 May 2016 | The Palazzo
Versace Hotel, Gold Coast.
12.5 structured CPD hours |  Key note address |  7 plenaries |  2 workshops |  Panel session.
Find out more about 2016's Private
Business Tax Retreat
 here.
*KPMG and Family Business
Australia ‘Family Business Survey 2015’ (in conjunction with The University of
Adelaide)

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