Qualifying Companies vs Look-Through Companies – Practical Tax Guidance (live webinar)
Price excludes GST. Broadcast Date: 5 November 2026 (10-11am)
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Product Description
Qualifying companies (QCs) and look-through companies (LTCs) both modify the ordinary company tax rules, but they do so in fundamentally different ways. Understanding those differences is important when advising owner-managed businesses, family companies, investment companies and property-owning companies.
A QC remains the taxpayer and applies special rules to distributions, while an LTC is generally transparent for income tax purposes, with income, deductions, gains, losses and tax credits allocated to its owners. With QCs now a closed legacy regime, decisions around preserving, changing or relinquishing existing QC status can have significant tax and compliance implications.
Using a single closely held company case study, this practical webinar will compare the two regimes across the company lifecycle. Topics will include eligibility and ownership requirements, elections and re-elections, the treatment of profits and losses, owner remuneration, imputation and distributions, shareholder and trust changes, share and asset disposals, and the consequences of conversion, revocation or loss of status.
The webinar will also highlight common compliance risks and provide a practical framework for assessing whether an existing QC should retain its status, elect into the LTC regime, or operate as an ordinary company.
WHAT TOPICS WILL BE COVERED?
- Fundamental differences between QC company-level taxation and LTC look-through taxation
- Eligibility and ongoing status requirements
- Elections and re-elections
- Tax treatment of profits and losses
- Owner remuneration
- Imputation and distributions
- Shareholder and trust changes
- Share and asset disposals
- Conversion, revocation and loss of QC or LTC status
- Common compliance risks
- Practical considerations when deciding whether to retain QC status, move to the LTC regime, or operate as an ordinary company
WHY ATTEND?
QCs and LTCs can produce very different tax outcomes despite both providing alternatives to the ordinary company tax rules. For advisers dealing with closely held companies, understanding how the regimes differ – and what can cause their status to change – is essential.
This webinar uses a single practical case study to bring the differences into focus, helping participants connect the technical rules with the types of issues they encounter when advising clients. It will also provide a practical framework for considering the ongoing appropriateness of an existing QC or a move to the LTC regime.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
This webinar is intended for accountants advising:
- Owner-managed businesses
- Family companies
- Investment companies
- Property-owning companies
It will be particularly relevant to practitioners who need to advise clients on the ongoing tax and compliance implications of QC and LTC structures.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By attending this webinar, participants will be able to:
- Explain the fundamental difference between QC company-level taxation and LTC look-through taxation.
- Apply the principal eligibility and ongoing status requirements for each regime.
- Compare how profits, losses, remuneration and distributions are treated.
- Identify ownership, trust and residency changes that may threaten QC or LTC status.
- Recognise the tax consequences of entering, leaving or changing regimes.
PRESENTER
Stephen Richards, Partner – Tax Advisory, Findex/Crowe
Stephen Richards is Partner in the Tax Advisory team at Findex. Findex is one of the largest providers of integrated financial advisory and accounting services to individuals, SMEs, and corporates in Australasia.
Stephen has been practising in tax advisory for over 20 years and is a sought-after speaker on tax topics, including for CCH, CAANZ, and TEO Training courses and lecturing in taxation practice at the University of Otago.