Before deciding on a business name, you should check it's still available. Having a domain name for a website does not give you rights to the business name. You should check your name is available and then register it with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
To operate your business legally, you must give business information to relevant authorities. You should register:
If your business doesn't have the right registrations it can affect your tax rate. This may result in penalties or fines.
Follow these 3 steps to make sure you have the right licences and registrations in place.
To operate your business legally in the ACT, you may need licences. Licences regulate most industries and relate to things like:
You usually need to abide by certain rules to hold a licence. In the ACT, Access Canberra administers most of these occupational licenses and permits. You may already have an occupational licence from another state or territory. If so, you might benefit from automatic mutual recognition. This means your license is recognised in the ACT and you can operate without renewing it.
In Canberra, if your business is a labour hire provider, you need a Labour Hire Licence. Labour hire providers are broadly defined as an individual or business:
If you plan to run a business involving children or vulnerable people in the ACT, you and your staff may need to register for and provide a valid Working with Vulnerable People (WWVP) check. WWVP checks need to be renewed every 5 years. It aims to reduce the risk of harm and neglect to vulnerable members of our society.
There are a range of taxes you need to be aware of as a business owner. Make sure you understand and pay the right amount on taxes in time to avoid penalties. Some of the taxes you may need to pay include:
Home-based businesses also have specific tax implications and deductions that are allowed. You’ll need to know what expenses you can claim and whether you have to pay capital gains tax when you sell your home.
If you’re planning on establishing a charity or not-for-profit there are different tax implications. If you’re registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission, you can apply for charity tax concessions or exemption from the ATO. Mutual organisations, associations and co-operatives need to lodge a tax return with the ATO.
It's also important to keep records for a range of things including your taxes, superannuation, income, expenses and employees.
Payroll tax is a State and Territory tax on wages that employers pay employees. Not all businesses have to pay payroll tax. Any tax is calculated based on the amount of wages you pay employees Australia-wide per month.
For employers in the ACT, you only have to pay it if your total taxable wages, or the total taxable wages of the group of employers you belong to, exceed the payroll tax threshold. As of July 2016, the monthly payroll tax threshold in the ACT is $166,666.66, or $2 million per year.
Intellectual property rights protect your ideas. Protecting your business with IP rights means only you can profit from them.
You can protect your:
A business name also does not give you exclusive trading rights or ownership over that name. It doesn’t stop other businesses from using it for their products or services. You can protect your business name with a registered trademark. A registered trademark gives you a legal avenue to stop others using that name to trade similar goods and services. TM Checker is a simple tool to check if your name is available to trademark in Australia.
Get the right support for your businessStarting, running and growing a business comes with lots of challenges, but you don't have to do it all by yourself. We have support services and resources to help all businesses on their journey.