Company Tax Return Accountants in Adelaide
Registered Tax Agents preparing and lodging company tax returns across South Australia. We get the base rate entity test right, apply all the deductions you are entitled to, and lodge on time.
Company Tax Returns Done Right, Not Just Lodged
A company tax return is not a form-filling exercise. Your company is a separate legal entity, taxed on its own income, and the difference between a 25% and a 30% rate on the same profit is real money you either keep or hand over.
A company is a separate legal entity. It gives you limited liability and a flat 25% company tax rate for base rate entities. It also imposes an annual ASIC review fee of $342 for as long as the company exists, a director identification number requirement for every director, and a tax return requirement, whether or not you traded.
Most of that comes down to one test most business owners have never heard of, and a surprising number of accountants apply carelessly. Get the base rate entity test wrong, and a company earning $200,000 in profit pays $50,000 instead of $60,000. That is a $10,000 swing on a single line of the return.
We prepare and lodge company tax returns for Adelaide businesses as Registered Tax Agents. That means reconciled financials, the correct rate applied and defensible, deductions claimed properly, and lodgement inside your ATO deadline rather than after it.
What Our Company Tax Return Service Covers
Every company is different. A single-director consultancy and a family company with a corporate trustee and franked distributions carry very different work. What does not change is the standard: reconciled, compliant, and lodged on time, with the correct rate applied.
Company Tax Return Preparation
Full preparation and lodgement of your company tax return. We reconcile your accounts, prepare the financial statements, determine your base rate entity status, and lodge electronically as your Registered Tax Agent.
Base Rate Entity Assessment
The 25% rate applies only if aggregated turnover is under $50 million and no more than 80% of assessable income is passive. We test both prongs and document the position, so the rate holds up if the ATO asks.
Franking and Dividends
Your maximum franking rate is tied to your company tax rate. We calculate franking credits correctly, maintain your franking account, and ensure distributions to shareholders do not create tax problems later.
PAYG Instalments and BAS
Most companies pay tax in advance through quarterly PAYG instalments. We reconcile instalments against actual liability, vary them where you are overpaying, and align your BAS with the annual return.
Late and Overdue Returns
Behind on lodgements? Failure to lodge penalties accrue per 28-day period and interest compounds daily. We bring overdue company returns up to date and deal with the ATO directly on remission where grounds exist.
Multi-Entity and Group Returns
Companies inside trust structures, corporate trustees, and connected entities each affect aggregated turnover. We handle the group picture rather than treating each return in isolation.
What Our Clients Say (Real Adelaide Stories)
Priya S.
Adelaide, Australia
After moving our bookkeeping and tax returns across, everything feels organised and stress-free. They explain complex numbers in plain language and are always available when we need guidance.
When Your Company Tax Return Is Due
Company lodgement deadlines are not a single date, and the version most people have heard is usually wrong.
If you lodge the return yourself, small companies are generally due to lodge and pay by 28 February. If your company has any prior-year returns outstanding, the due date moves to 31 October, with payment due 1 December.
If you lodge through a Registered Tax Agent, you go onto the agent lodgement program, and small companies typically receive an extension to 15 May. To be added to an agent's program for the first time, you need to be with the agent before 31 October.
That extension is not just breathing room. It is months of holding your own money rather than the ATO's, and it is one of the more immediate benefits of using an agent.
Miss a deadline and failure to lodge penalties apply per a 28-day period the return is late, capped by entity size, with the General Interest Charge compounding daily on any unpaid tax.
What Rate Will Your Company Actually Pay?
There are two company tax rates in Australia, and which one applies is determined by a two-pronged test.
Both must pass.
- Your company pays 25% if its aggregated turnover is under $50 million and no more than 80% of its assessable income is base rate entity passive income.
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- Your company pays 30% if either test fails.
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| Company type | Rate |
|---|---|
| Base rate entity (both tests passed) | 25% |
| All other companies | 30% |
The turnover threshold has sat at $50 million since the 2018-19 income year, and the rates have been stable since 2024-25. Almost every owner-managed company in Adelaide clears the turnover test comfortably. The one that catches people is the passive income test.
Base rate entity passive income includes:
- Dividends other than non-portfolio dividends
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- Franking credits attached to them
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- Interest
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- Rent
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- Royalties
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- Net capital gains
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If more than 80% of your assessable income falls into those buckets, your company pays 30% regardless of how small it is.
This catches more Adelaide businesses than
you would think.
- A holding company receiving dividends from a trading subsidiary is 100% passive and pays 30%.
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- A property investment company holding rentals is 100% passive and pays 30%.
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- A trading company that sells a major asset in a year where the capital gain dominates its income can fail the test for that year alone.
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Using a registered BAS agent like The Kalculators gives you up to 4 additional weeks on most quarters. The one exception is Q2 (December quarter), where both self-lodge and agent deadlines are 28 February.
Award-Winning Tax Agents You Can Trust
Company tax is regulated work, and the rate you apply has to be defensible. The Kalculators operates under full Registered Tax Agent accreditation with the Tax Practitioners Board.
Our record: IPA Practice of the Year (SA and NT, 2025). IPA Member of the Year (SA/NT) in 2019 and 2025. Four AusMumpreneur Awards in 2020 for Business Excellence and Customer Service. Xero Gold Partner status, which, for company clients, means the file is reconciled continuously rather than rebuilt in a panic each February.
Founded by Kaleem Ullah, the firm has spent over 10 years working with South Australian companies. We process more than 20,000 returns a year with a team of over 20 registered tax consultants.
IPA Practice of the Year
(SA & NT – 2025)
Xero Gold Partner
AusMumpreneur Awards
– Business Excellence
Member of the Year 2019 –
Institute of Public Accountants
Member of the Year 2025 –
Institute of Public Accountants
Tax Practitioners Board
Registered Agent
Australian Accounting
Awards (2019)
Australian Accounting
Awards (2020)
Australian Accounting
Awards (2021, 2022)
0k+
Returns Annually0+
Tax Consultants$0M+
In Claimed Deductions0+
Office Locations
How We Prepare Your Company Return
Preparing a company return is mostly about getting the inputs right before the return itself. Here is the process we follow, from reconciling your accounts to confirming the assessment.
Records and reconciliation
We reconcile your accounts and resolve any discrepancies that do not tie out. Most problems in a company return are bookkeeping problems that surfaced late.
Records and reconciliation
We reconcile your accounts and resolve any discrepancies that do not tie out. Most problems in a company return are bookkeeping problems that surfaced late.
Financial statements
We prepare the profit and loss and balance sheet from which the return is built.
Financial statements
We prepare the profit and loss and balance sheet from which the return is built.
Rate determination
We test aggregated turnover and the passive income proportion, then document which rate applies and why.
Rate determination
We test aggregated turnover and the passive income proportion, then document which rate applies and why.
Deductions and offsets
We work through what the company is entitled to claim, including depreciation and any concessions available to its size.
Deductions and offsets
We work through what the company is entitled to claim, including depreciation and any concessions available to its size.
Franking and distributions
We reconcile the franking account and verify that dividends paid during the year are correctly franked.
Franking and distributions
We reconcile the franking account and verify that dividends paid during the year are correctly franked.
Lodgement
We lodge electronically as your Registered Tax Agent within your program deadline and confirm the assessment.
Lodgement
We lodge electronically as your Registered Tax Agent within your program deadline and confirm the assessment.
Why Adelaide Companies Lodge Through Us
- Registered Tax Agent accreditation under Tax Practitioners Board standards
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- Base rate entity status tested on both prongs and documented, not assumed
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- Agent lodgement program access, typically extending small company deadlines to 15 May
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- Franking account is maintained correctly, so dividends do not create problems later
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- PAYG instalments reconciled and varied where you are paying too much
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- Overdue and multi-year company returns brought up to date, with ATO liaison
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- 10+ years advising South Australian companies on tax and structure
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- 3 offices across Adelaide at Salisbury, Blair Athol, and Morphett Vale
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- Online service for Murray Bridge, Woodville, Melrose Park, Port Augusta, Prospect, and Brighton
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- Xero Gold Partner, so your accounting file is current year-round
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Company Tax Returns for Every Industry
A construction company, a medical practice, and an e-commerce business each face different rules regarding what they can claim and how they are taxed. We prepare company tax returns across South Australia's main industries, so the person doing your return already knows your sector.
Construction and Trades
Company tax returns for building firms, subcontractors, and trade businesses. We handle progress payments, retention sums, plant and equipment depreciation, and the instant asset write-off on tools and vehicles.
Medical and Healthcare
Company tax returns for medical practices and healthcare providers. Service entity structures, personal services income, and equipment depreciation associated with running a practice are handled properly.
Hospitality
Company tax returns for cafes, restaurants, and hospitality venues. Stock valuation, tip and wage reconciliation, fit-out depreciation, and the tight margins that make accurate reporting matter.
E-commerce and Retail
Company tax returns for online stores and retail businesses. GST across platforms, inventory, cost of goods sold, and the multi-channel income make reconciliation complex.
Professional Services
Company tax returns for consultancies, agencies, and professional firms. Personal services income rules, service trusts, and the profit distribution decisions that shape a professional company's tax position.
Property and Construction Investment
Company tax returns for property developers and investment companies. Capital versus revenue treatment, GST margin scheme, and the structure decisions that carry the biggest tax consequences in property.
What Does a Company Tax Return Cost?
Company tax return fees depend on the work involved, and any firm quoting a single number without asking about your situation is guessing. A single-director consultancy with a clean Xero file and no dividends is a different job from a company inside a trust structure with franked distributions, a corporate trustee, and three years of unreconciled accounts.
What changes the fee: the state of your bookkeeping, whether your accounts reconcile, the number of connected entities that affect aggregated turnover, whether there are dividends and a franking account to maintain, and whether prior-year returns are outstanding.
We quote before we start. You will know the fee in advance, and if the scope changes, we will tell you before the work happens rather than after.
Bookkeeping in order first usually costs less overall than having us reconstruct a year from bank statements. If your file needs work, we will let you know up front.
Trusted by Thousands Across South Australia
Our Branch Locations
Salisbury Branch
salisbury@thekalculators.com.au
182 Salisbury Highway, Salisbury, SA 5108
Frequently Asked Questions
Lodge With Confidence. Talk to Our Adelaide Team Today.
If your company return is due, overdue, or you are simply not confident the right rate has been applied in previous years, that is worth a conversation. We have worked with South Australian companies for over 10 years, from 3 offices across Adelaide and online across regional SA.
Contact our team for a no-obligation consultation and a quote before any work starts.
