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ARTICLE · 01 APRIL 2026

Critical Australian Tax Developments For Private Equity: What You Need To Know

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP
Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP
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Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP

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There are significant tax developments underway that have the potential to materially impact private equity debt and investment structures in Australia. Private equity investors can expect the Australian Taxation Office...

AustraliaTax
Jay Prasad
Jay Prasad
Ryan Leslie
Ryan Leslie
Toby Eggleston
Toby Eggleston
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There are significant tax developments underway that have the potential to materially impact private equity debt and investment structures in Australia. Private equity investors can expect the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to continue heightened compliance activity in these areas, including through the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) process.

ATO Consultation on Interest Withholding Tax Exemption

The ATO has commenced targeted consultation on the section 128F 'public offer' interest withholding tax exemption.

Section 128F provides a withholding tax exemption for interest on certain debentures and debt interests issued through a qualifying 'public offer'. The public offer test broadly requires debt to be offered in a way that makes it genuinely available to the public or a wide cross-section of it – for example, through offers to 10 or more unrelated qualifying financial investors – rather than being privately placed with a closely held lender group or associates of the

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