EOTs in Australia

Australia is looking to become the next country to take a step forward on EOTs

In Brief: In Australia EOTs offer an attractive succession plan for both employees and owners. 

The Benefits: Employee Ownership Trusts offer a variety of benefits as a structure both for succession and long term management. Andrew Pendleton, Professor of Employee Ownership and Reward at UNSW Business School describes EOTs as “a very simple structure” where a trust owns “all or some of the equity of the company for the benefit of its employees.” This differs from other forms of ownership like ESOPs, which mainly benefit employees in retirement, while EOTs look to share current success. On top of sharing current success, EOTs help protect the interests of employees during a firm’s transition and allow owners to maintain independence and control of their company’s succession plan. 

EOTs in Australia: EOTs have taken off in the UK, and Australia is looking to be next in line. The Australian House of Representatives in August released a report recommending increased promotion of employee ownership throughout the country. Professor Pendleton hopes that in the future the Australian government will “go the extra mile” and legislate on specific tax advantages for EOTs.

Go Deeper: Check out the original article here 

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