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Completing the tax return – Page 1 Partnership tax return

Last updated 21 December 2020

Attachments to the tax return

If these instructions ask you to provide additional information, attach the additional information to the tax return and print X in the Yes box at Have you attached any 'other attachments'? at the top of page 1 of the tax return.

If, when you have finished completing this tax return, you have not attached any document to it, print X in the No box.

Tax file number (TFN)

Print the TFN of the partnership in the boxes provided.

Name of partnership

The partnership name should be consistent from year to year, except in the year of a name change.

If the partnership name is legally changed, advise us in writing at the time the change is made and include the previous name of your partnership where required on the tax return.

Australian business number (ABN)

The ABN is a unique business identifier used in dealings with the Australian Government. It is also available to state, territory and local government regulatory bodies. Identification for tax law purposes is only one of the uses of the ABN.

For more information, see Australian business number.

Full name of partner to whom notices should be sent

Show the surname or family name and given names of the partner to whom notices should be sent. If the partner is a company, show the name and the ABN of the company.

If the partner is a trustee of a trust, show the name of the trust and trustee. If the trustee is a company, show the name and ABN of the company.

Interposed entity election status

You must complete this item if any of the following apply:

  • The partners are making one or more interposed entity elections specifying a day in the 2004–05 or later income year in accordance with section 272-85 of Schedule 2F to the ITAA 1936.
  • The partners have previously made one or more interposed entity elections specifying a day in any income years from 1994–95 to 2016–17 in accordance with section 272-85 of Schedule 2F to the ITAA 1936 and, if applicable, items 23 or 23A of Schedule 1 to the Taxation Laws Amendment (Trust Loss and Other Deductions) Act 1998 and at least one interposed entity election has not been revoked in an income year before the 2017–18 income year in accordance with subsections 272-85(5) and 272–85(6) of Schedule 2F to the ITAA 1936.
  • The partners are revoking, from a time in 2017–18, one or more previously made interposed entity elections in accordance with section 272-85 of Schedule 2F to the ITAA 1936.

A partner cannot make an interposed entity election specifying a year earlier than 2004–05 (section 272-85 of Schedule 2F to the ITAA 1936). Do not attach election forms for an interposed entity election made specifying an income year before 2004–05 to the Partnership tax return 2020.

Read Interposed entity election or revocation 2020 for instructions on how to complete the Interposed entity election or revocation 2020.

If the partnership’s tax return is not lodged electronically, and an Interposed entity election or revocation 2020 is being lodged with your partnership’s 2020 tax return, send your tax return and the Interposed entity election or revocation 2020 to:

Australian Taxation Office
GPO Box 9845
IN YOUR CAPITAL CITY

If the partners have not made or are not making any interposed entity elections, do not complete this item.

If the partners are making one or more interposed entity elections specifying a day in the 2004–05 or later income year, write the earliest income year specified in the box at this item and complete an Interposed entity election or revocation 2020 for each election specifying a day in the 2004–05 or later income years.

Example 1: New election specifying the current year

The partners have not previously made an interposed entity election. They now want to make an interposed entity election specifying a day in 2019–20.

They write 2020 in the box at this item.

They complete an Interposed entity election or revocation 2020, specifying a day in 2019–20.

They attach the completed form to their Partnership tax return 2020.

End of example

 

Example 2: New election specifying an earlier year

The partners have not previously made an interposed entity election. They now want to make an interposed entity election specifying a day in 2004–05.

They write 2005 in the box at this item.

They complete an Interposed entity election or revocation 2020, specifying a day in 2004–05.

They attach the completed form to their Partnership tax return 2020.

End of example

If the partners have previously made one or more elections specifying a day in an income year before 2019–20, write the earliest income year specified in the box at this item unless the partners are making one or more elections specifying a day in the 2004–05 or later.

Example 3: Multiple existing interposed entity elections

The partners have previously made interposed entity elections specifying a day in the 1997–98 and 2005–06 income years respectively. They are not making another interposed entity election.

They write 1998 in the box at this item.

The partners do not need to complete an Interposed entity election or revocation 2020.

End of example

 

Example 4: Additional election specifying a current year

The partners have previously made an interposed entity election specifying a day in 1996–97 and want to make another interposed entity election specifying a day in 2019–20.

They write 2020 in the box at this item.

They complete an Interposed entity election or revocation 2020, specifying a day in 2019–20.

They attach the completed form to their Partnership tax return 2020.

End of example

If the partners have previously made one or more elections specifying a day in an income year before 2004–05 and took advantage of the former one-off opportunity in Law Administration Practice Statement PS LA 2004/1 (GA) Lodgment opportunity for family trust and interposed entity elections to specify an earlier year, write the earliest income year specified unless the partners are making one or more elections specifying a day in the 2004–05 or later income years.

Example 5: Existing elections, taken advantage of the one-off opportunity

The partners have previously made an interposed entity election specifying a day in 2002–03. The partners took advantage of the former one-off opportunity in Law Administration Practice Statement PS LA 2004/1 (GA) Lodgment opportunity for family trust and interposed entity elections requesting that the election apply from 1997–98.

They write 1998 in the box at this item.

The partners do not need to complete an Interposed entity election or revocation 2020.

End of example

Revocation

An interposed entity election can only be revoked by the partners of a partnership that satisfy all the relevant conditions in section 272-85 of Schedule 2F to the ITAA 1936.

The partners cannot revoke an interposed entity election unless the revocation is in respect of an income year that occurs during the period:

  • starting on 1 July 2007 and finishing on 30 June 2009
  • starting at the later of    
    • the beginning of the income year specified in the election, and
    • the beginning of the income year in which the entity became a member of the family group and
    • finishing at the end of the fourth income year after the income year referred to in the above two dot points.
     

The revocation must be made with the entity’s tax return for the income year from which the revocation is to be effective.

Print R in the box at this item if the interposed entity election made by the partners is being revoked from 2019–20. An Interposed entity election or revocation 2020 must be completed and lodged with their Partnership tax return 2020.

Example 6: Revoking an interposed entity election

The partners have previously made an interposed entity election specifying a day in 2007–08 and meet the conditions to revoke their interposed entity election in 2019–20.

They write 2008 in the box at this item and print R in the box at this item. The partners need to complete an Interposed entity election or revocation 2020 and lodge this with their Partnership tax return 2020.

An interposed entity election is taken to be revoked if the family trust election to which it relates is revoked.

End of example

Family trust distribution tax

A consequence of a partnership making an interposed entity election is that under section 271-25 of Schedule 2F to the ITAA 1936 a special tax, called family trust distribution tax (FTDT), is payable at 47% on any conferral of present entitlement to, or distribution of, income or capital of the partnership to persons who are not members of the family group of the specified individual within the meaning of section 272-90 of that schedule.

A distribution of income or capital by a partnership is defined in sections 272-55 and 272-60 of Schedule 2F to the ITAA 1936.

Post the Family trust distribution tax payment advice with your FTDT payment to the ATO address:

NSW, QLD or ACT residents

Australian Taxation Office
Locked Bag 1793
PENRITH  NSW  1793

VIC, SA, WA, Tas or NT residents

Australian Taxation Office
Locked Bag 1936
ALBURY  NSW  1936

Make cheques or money orders payable to the Deputy Commissioner of Taxation and print ‘Not negotiable’ across the cheque. Tender all cheques in Australian currency. Do not send cash by post. Other payment options are also available.

See also:

Final tax return

Print X in appropriate box.

If the partnership does not expect to lodge further tax returns, print X in the Yes box.

You must also attach to your return a statement providing:

  • the reason further tax returns will not be lodged, and
  • the manner of disposal of any assets of the partnership if not disclosed elsewhere on the tax return.

Attach the statement to the tax return and print X in the Yes box at Have you attached any 'other attachments'? at the top of page 1 of the tax return.

If it is the final tax return because the partnership has been reconstituted, include in the statement the names of the partners in the new partnership and the trading name, if any, of the new partnership.

If the partnership became a subsidiary member of a consolidated group or MEC group during the year, print X in the No box on page 2 of the tax return if membership of the consolidated group or MEC group is the only reason for which the partnership will not be required to lodge future tax returns.

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