How Much Does it Cost to Register and Operate a Company in Australia?

The cost of registering a new company with ASIC, under Section 118 of the Corporations Law 2001 – if the company has a share capital – is $444. This fee needs to be paid at the time the application is made to register the new company.

We add our fee for acting as your agent to assist with the registration. Our’s is one of the lowest fees in the country at only $34 including GST. We are able to keep our fees low because our service is fully automated and online.

The ASIC costs are the same for transferring the registration of a company or registering a foreign company in Australia.

A few other costs can be associated with registering a new company. For example, ASIC will charge $44 to reserve a company name and another $44 if you wish to extend the period of that reservation.

If you need to apply for special permission from the Minister to use a company name, the cost involved is currently $1107. If you wish to apply to use a company name without the word ‘limited’, a $366 fee applies.

Once a company is up and running, ASIC charges other fees such as an annual fee of $236 for proprietary companies (other than special purpose companies which are charged $44). For most companies, the annual review date is the date 12 months from the company’s registration or incorporation.

A company can nominate to pay its annual review fees 10-years in advance. For a proprietary company (other than a special purpose company), the cost for 10-years is $1771. If you don’t elect to pay in advance, the company will need to pay its annual review fee within two months of the review date. If the payment is received within one month after that due date, a late lodgement fee of $72 applies.

The fee gets even more hefty if you are more than a month late with lodgement. You’ll incure a $299 late fee in addition to any fees already payable.

The good news is that ASIC does not charge any fees for a raft of other services that a company may need to use, such as notifying ASIC of supplementary information for the company register, the issue or cancellation of shares, notifying of members’ resolutions in relation to shares or changing the address of the company’s registered office.