Private Client Advisory & Tax Structuring – Prime Partners
Personal Tax, Structuring and Asset Protection for Executives, Business Owners and Families
We provide private client tax and structuring advice to high income professionals, senior executives and business owners who require careful planning as their wealth becomes more complex.
As wealth grows, complexity rarely announces itself. It tends to emerge gradually – through property acquisitions, business distributions, lending arrangements, investment structures and family obligations that layer on top of one another over time.
At Prime Partners, our private client advisory practice exists to serve individuals and families who have reached this point – where the stakes are higher, the interactions between decisions are harder to see, and the cost of getting it wrong is no longer trivial.
This is not retail financial planning. It is deliberate, confidential advisory work – grounded in tax law, structuring expertise and a deep understanding of the commercial and personal pressures that shape high-value decisions.
Why Private Client Advisory Matters
Most Australians can manage their tax and financial affairs with a competent accountant and a degree of self-direction. But there is a threshold – sometimes gradual, sometimes sudden – where the number of moving parts exceeds what standard compliance services are designed to handle.
That threshold is different for everyone, but the signals tend to be consistent:
Multiple Entities
Trusts, companies and partnerships set up at different times, for different reasons, with structures that may no longer align with current objectives.
Property Portfolios
Residential and commercial holdings acquired incrementally, often with lending structures that have become interdependent.
Significant Income Events
A business sale, equity vesting, partnership distribution or inheritance that creates a material tax consequence in a single year.
Lending Complexity
Borrowing for business, investment and personal purposes that has become intertwined, making interest deductibility unclear.
Cross-Border Exposure
Income, assets or family members in more than one jurisdiction creating dual reporting and structuring obligations.
Family Wealth Considerations
Asset protection, intergenerational transfers and estate planning that intersect with tax, structure and succession.
Our Private Client Advisory Services
Each engagement is scoped around the client’s actual position – not a templated product offering.
Property Acquisition & Pre-Purchase Structuring
Purchasing property is one of the most common triggers for structuring advice – and one of the most frequently mishandled. The entity that holds the asset, the way funding is arranged, the interaction with existing structures and the capital gains tax implications of future disposal all need to be considered before contracts are exchanged. We advise on individual, trust, company or SMSF ownership, land tax thresholds, capital gains tax concessions, negative gearing, stamp duty considerations and integration with existing portfolio structures.
Funding & Interest Deductibility Review
As borrowing expands across business, investment and personal purposes, the deductibility of interest can become unclear. Mixed-purpose loans, refinancing across entities and cross-collateralisation create complexity that the ATO scrutinises carefully. We review lending arrangements to identify deductible and non-deductible components, assess whether refinancing has preserved or compromised deductibility, and recommend restructuring where existing arrangements are suboptimal.
Investment Structuring Advice
The entity that holds a share portfolio, managed fund or private equity interest affects not only the tax treatment of income and gains but also the asset protection profile, estate planning flexibility and administrative burden. We assess structures in context – considering interactions with existing entities, income levels, risk tolerance and long-term objectives.
Significant Income Event Planning
Certain events create a concentrated tax liability in a single financial year – a business sale, equity vesting, partnership buyout, redundancy or large capital gain. Without advance planning, the marginal tax rate on these events can exceed 47% (including Medicare levy), and the options for mitigation narrow dramatically once the event has occurred. We model tax consequences, identify legitimate deferral and offset strategies, coordinate timing across financial years and ensure small business CGT concessions are maximised where eligible.
Asset Protection Review
As personal wealth grows, so does exposure to creditor claims, litigation risk and unforeseen liability events. We review ownership structures, trust effectiveness, personal guarantees, directorships, bankruptcy provisions, family law considerations and insurance adequacy. Asset protection is most effective when implemented proactively – before a claim or dispute arises. Retrospective restructuring is significantly more limited.
Annual Private Client Review
A structured annual review – typically conducted in the first quarter of the financial year – to reassess the overall tax position, review structures for continued alignment, identify planning opportunities and incorporate changes in legislation or ATO guidance.
Adviser Coordination
We coordinate across your advisory team – accountant, financial planner, solicitor, mortgage broker, insurance adviser – to ensure tax and structuring advice is consistent, structures are aligned and nothing falls between the gaps.
When Does Private Client Advisory Matter Most?
There is a threshold – sometimes gradual, sometimes sudden – where the number of moving parts exceeds what standard compliance services are designed to handle. Common triggers include a property acquisition, business sale, equity vesting event, new lending arrangement, change in family circumstances or the realisation that structures set up years ago no longer fit the current position. If you are making decisions worth hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars, the structuring around those decisions deserves the same level of care.
Who This Service Is For
Senior Executives & Professionals
Partners in law and accounting firms, medical specialists, senior corporate leaders and technology executives who share a common profile: income is high, time is scarce, and the consequences of poor structuring compound quickly.
- Time pressure – decisions around property, equity vesting, bonus structures or partnership distributions without adequate time to consider structural implications
- Irreversible mistakes – ownership decisions, loan structures and entity choices that cannot be easily unwound
- Overexposure through leverage – borrowing across multiple purposes that has become difficult to disentangle
- Employer share scheme complexity – ESS, RSU and option arrangements with deferred tax obligations
- Professional liability – exposure through personal guarantees, partnerships or directorships
Business Owners With Growing Personal Wealth
As the business grows, personal wealth often becomes intertwined with business assets, lending and entity structures. The line between business and personal decision-making blurs, and complexity increases across multiple dimensions simultaneously.
- Entity proliferation – trading companies, holding companies, trusts, unit trusts and SMSFs established at different stages
- Property portfolios layering – commercial premises, investment properties and the family home all held through different structures
- Lending becoming interdependent – cross-collateralisation, related-party loans and refinancing
- Succession and transition planning – preparing for sale, family transition or staged exit
- Profit extraction – the most tax-effective method of drawing income, considering Division 7A, trust distributions, salary and director fees
The Risk of Acting Too Quickly
Most structuring mistakes do not occur because of bad advice. They occur because decisions are made under time pressure, without a complete view of the broader position. Once contracts are exchanged, funds distributed or ownership registered, options narrow significantly. What could have been a straightforward restructuring before the event becomes a costly exercise after it.
Property purchased in the wrong entity
Triggering stamp duty, CGT consequences and lost asset protection if the structure needs to change.
Loan restructuring that breaks deductibility
Refinancing that converts deductible debt into non-deductible debt.
Trust distributions that create unexpected tax obligations
Including potential application of Section 100A.
Business sale proceeds received without advance structuring
Missing access to small business CGT concessions.
Superannuation contributions that exceed caps
Resulting in excess contributions tax that could have been avoided.
The common thread is urgency overriding thoroughness. Our approach is to create space for deliberate decision-making – even when the transaction timeline is tight.
Our Approach to Private Client Advisory
1. Understand the Full Position
A comprehensive review of entities, assets, liabilities, income sources, existing structures and personal objectives. This surfaces the interactions and dependencies that are not immediately obvious – entity structures, asset registers, lending arrangements, income streams and family circumstances.
2. Identify Interaction Effects
Complexity rarely comes from individual decisions. It comes from the interaction between them – a property acquisition that affects lending capacity, a trust distribution that triggers a Division 7A issue, a restructure that changes the asset protection profile. We map these interactions explicitly.
3. Recommend Deliberate Structure
Clear recommendations specific to your position and objectives – grounded in current tax law and ATO guidance, assessed for feasibility and cost, and considered in context of your risk tolerance and time horizon. The best structure is the simplest one that achieves your objectives while managing risk appropriately.
4. Coordinate Execution Carefully
Implementation across legal advisers, lenders, financial planners, ATO registrations and accounting systems. A well-designed structure means nothing if the execution introduces errors – incorrect entity registrations, poorly drafted deeds, misaligned documentation or overlooked stamp duty obligations.
Connected Advisory Services
Private client advisory connects directly with the broader services offered by Prime Partners, ensuring business and personal affairs are managed as a coherent whole.
Advisory Hub
At the Moments That Matter – our advisory hub providing an overview of how business and personal advisory services connect.
Business Structuring
Business Structure Review – entity and ownership structuring for business assets, often conducted alongside private client reviews.
Succession Planning
Business Succession & Transition – exit planning, ownership transitions and intergenerational wealth transfer.
Finance Hub
Virtual CFO Services – financial oversight for the business, coordinated with private client planning.
SMSF Services
SMSF Administration – superannuation strategy that integrates with the broader private wealth position.
Tax Foundations
Accounting & Tax Advisory – the compliance and tax planning foundation supporting both business and personal advisory.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this tax advice or financial planning?
Do you only assist with large transactions?
Can this be an ongoing engagement?
What is private client advisory?
How does asset protection structuring work?
When should I review my personal tax structure?
Can you help with property investment structuring?
What is the difference between private client advisory and wealth management?
Do you coordinate with my other advisers?
How do you protect wealth during business growth?
Start the Conversation
Private client advisory begins with a confidential discussion about your current position and objectives. There is no obligation and no templated process – just a conversation about whether our approach is right for your situation.
Related Services
Explore how our advisory services connect to support your business at every stage.
Business Succession & Transition
Plan ownership change, leadership transition or staged exit.
SMSF Administration & Tax
Compliant, accurate and professionally managed Self-Managed Super Funds.
Business Structure Review
Reassess your structure for tax efficiency, risk and long-term alignment.