Family office investors will go offshore
Australian family offices are likely to be influenced to deploy their investments outside of Australia if the Government does not proceed with legislative changes aimed at protecting the confidentiality of their tax information.
That is the assessment of the Family Office Institute of Australia which has warned of the likelihood of Australia losing investment in a submission to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee which is reviewing the Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (Better Targeting Income Tax Transparency Laws) Bill 2015.
In its submission to the committee, the Family Office Institute said that a 2011 study on the contribution by family groups to the Australian economy, suggested the total wealth of family groups in the "family office sector" was approximately $226 billion.
"The amount is likely to be significantly more in 2015," the submission said. "As such, the risks to Australia's investment by family offices in Australia should not be underestimated."
It said a large proportion of family offices that set up corporate businesses in Australia were likely to exceed the $100 million turnover threshold and therefore were subject to the current tax disclosure laws.
The submission said the Institute was therefore supporting the amending legislation which was aimed at protecting the confidentiality of the family offices.
It said the instituted believed the legislation represented a positive step in protecting Australian private companies from the adverse consequences of the tax disclosure laws.
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