Trust ABN or trustee company ABN: which one holds your business names?
A trust with a corporate trustee can have two ABNs: one for the trust, and one for the trustee company if it has registered in its own right. Add a holding company or an old entity and there can be more. Each business name you register sits on exactly one of them.
Why the difference matters to you
Most owners expect a business name to sit on the ABN of the entity that trades under it. Whether that's right for yours depends on how your structure is set up, so it's a question for your accountant, not something Komiti decides.
The practical risk is simpler: a name can end up on a different ABN from the one you trade through, and nothing tells you. That's what happened to Komiti's founder. A new name went onto the trustee company's ABN instead of the trust's, where the other names sit, and nobody noticed for about five weeks.
See where your names sit now
Komiti's free structure check reads the public ABN register. Enter the ABN that actually trades (for a trust, the trust's ABN) and up to six other ABNs in the group: the trustee company, a holding company, old entities. It lists every business name registered to a different ABN from the trading one. Take that list to your accountant.
Questions
- Does a trust have its own ABN?
- A trust that carries on a business is entitled to its own ABN. The trustee registers it as trustee, separately from any ABN the trustee company holds in its own right. Check your own records or ask your accountant which ABNs your group holds.
- Can Komiti tell me which ABN is the right one?
- No. That depends on your structure and is for your accountant. Komiti shows where each name is registered now.
- What if a name is on a different ABN?
- Komiti lists it so you can raise it with your accountant. If you turn on the free monthly watch, it reminds you about every three months while a name stays on a different ABN from the trading one.
General information only, not legal, tax or financial advice.