Jim Koutsokostas

Partner

Qualifications: LLM, LLB, BCom

Industries

Practices

Jim is a Chartered Tax Adviser with over 15 years’ experience. He provides tax advice on a broad range of corporate and trust tax matters, having advised a number of publicly-listed, international, and large private clients on highly technical and complex matters, with a focus on the finance, government, and property and construction sectors.

Jim’s expertise extends to most areas of taxation law, covering Federal taxes (income tax, GST and FBT) and State taxes (duties, land tax and payroll tax).

His experience includes advising on the tax aspects of securitisation structures, development and lease agreements, property sale contracts, structured retail financial products and collective investment vehicles (CIVs), including managed investment trusts.

In addition, Jim has advised on the tax aspects of a number of cross-border transactions, onshore and offshore fund establishment, as well as property and infrastructure projects. He has also advised domestic and foreign financiers on the direct and indirect tax aspects of transactions with respect to distressed entities.

Experience

  • Advised the sellers of Victorian integrated construction materials business Dandy Premix on the $85 million sale of the business to Maas Group Holdings Limited.
  • Advised German-headquartered company Putzmeister on its acquisition of 100% of the share capital of Australian-based CPE Machinery Pty Ltd.
  • Advising Australian Unity on the structuring of a new wholesale fund holding specialist disability accommodation (SDA). The unique nature of the accommodation required a consideration of certain tax laws, the adverse application of which would have made the fund economically unattractive to investors. In particular, the SDA feature of the fund had unique income tax and GST structuring considerations that required careful consideration and advice. From a duty perspective, advice was required to manage the complex landholder duty rules.
  • Advising Australian Unity on the income tax aspects of the ongoing operation of its new $200 million Future of Healthcare Fund, a dual fund structure, designed to provide investors with a diversified and efficient medium-to-long-term exposure to A-REITs, direct property holdings, property development activities, Australian venture capital and private equity investments focussed on the healthcare sector. This included a consideration of the Division 6 trust taxation, the managed investment trust and attribution managed investment trust regimes, the public trading trust rules, and the debt-equity rules.
  • Advising KM Property Funds on the income tax, GST and duty implications of the establishment of a number of wholesale closed ended funds acquiring commercial and industrial properties in Adelaide, Hobart and Melbourne.
  • Advising a NASDAQ-listed wealth management group on a number of income tax matters with respect to their acquisitions of Australian ultra-high net worth wealth management businesses (including advice on capital gains tax, personal services income and share buyback rules).
  • Advising a NSW property development group on the availability of roll-over relief from both capital gains tax (CGT) and NSW duty with respect to the overhauling of an existing structure, and redesigning that structure to become a single tax consolidated group. In relation to NSW duty, advising and lodging a submission with Revenue NSW with respect to the application of the corporate consolidation exemption rules in the Duties Act 1997 to exempt the restructure from transfer and landholder duties.
  • Advising Hunter and Central Coast Development Corporation on the application of the GST margin scheme with respect to the sale of the former Pasminco Cockle Creek smelter site. This included the negotiation and drafting of GST clause in the transaction documents specific to this particular sale, and the requirements of the vendor and purchaser.
  • Acting for an Australian regional transport specialist group on their proposed acquisition of an Australian dairy, food, consumer and industrial chemicals transport group, and advising on and negotiating tax indemnities and tax warranties.

Awards and recognition

The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2023 & 2024
Recommended – Tax

Professional Membership

  • Chartered Tax Adviser, The Tax Institute

Latest thinking

Tax | 30 Nov 2023

Hot property! Major NSW and Victorian tax measures to impact property funds

Property funds – and their investors – may now be exposed to state taxation in ways in which they would not previously have been exposed.