Guides · Selling into Australia
Foreign company, Australian company or sole trader: how to structure
Most overseas sellers are sold an Australian company they do not need. This guide sets out the three genuine routes into the market, what each one costs in obligations rather than fees, and the director and officer rules that only bite once you incorporate here.
The short version
- Route one is your existing foreign company with an Australian ABN and GST registration. For most sellers it is the right answer, and it needs no Australian director, address or entity.
- Route two is an Australian subsidiary. It brings a resident director requirement, ASIC obligations and a full Australian tax return, in exchange for local presence and easier banking.
- Route three is registering the foreign company itself with ASIC as a branch, which gets an ARBN and a local agent. It suits companies with staff or contracts here, rarely a seller.
- A sole trader ABN is available to a non-resident individual too, with its own treaty and rate consequences.
Why the foreign company usually wins
An ABN and standard GST registration in your existing company's name gives you everything a marketplace or an Australian customer asks for. Your company stays taxed at home, protected by the treaty if there is one, and you avoid a second set of accounts, a second tax return and a director who must live in Australia. The costs that push sellers towards a subsidiary are usually banking friction and platform verification, both of which have workarounds.
When a subsidiary earns its keep
Local staff, a lease, Australian investors, government or enterprise customers who insist on contracting with an Australian entity, or a business that has clearly become Australian in substance. At that point the resident director requirement, the public officer appointment and the annual ASIC review are the price of a structure that fits.
Common questions
- Do I need an Australian company to sell on Amazon Australia?
- No. Amazon Australia accepts overseas companies as sellers. What you need for stock held in Australia is an ABN and, once required, a GST registration in the overseas company's name.
- Does a foreign company need an Australian resident director?
- Only if it incorporates an Australian company, which must have at least one director who ordinarily resides in Australia. A foreign company holding an ABN has no such requirement.
- What is an ARBN and do I need one?
- An Australian Registered Body Number is issued when a foreign company registers with ASIC to carry on business in Australia as a branch. Selling goods into Australia, including through Amazon FBA, generally does not require it.
The articles under this question
6 articles, newest first. Each answers one question.
Do you need an Australian resident director? When the rule applies — and when it doesn't (2026)
28 August 2026
The resident-director rule applies to companies incorporated in Australia. Register your overseas company for an ABN and GST and y…
Read →Selling into Australia from a US company: ABN, GST and the treaty (2026)
28 August 2026
Your US company can register for an Australian ABN and GST directly — no Australian entity needed. Where the treaty helps, what FB…
Read →Selling into Australia from a UK company: ABN, GST and the treaty (2026)
28 August 2026
A UK Ltd can register for an Australian ABN and GST in its own name — no Australian company needed. Where the treaty helps, what G…
Read →Selling to Australia through a Hong Kong company: the tax difference nobody mentions
27 August 2026
Hong Kong has no tax treaty with Australia. A mainland company gets a permanent establishment threshold; a Hong Kong company gets …
Read →Do I need an Australian company to sell on Amazon Australia?
19 August 2026
No. Your foreign company can hold an ABN and standard GST registration in its own name — no Australian entity, address or director…
Read →Should I set up a company? The 8 questions every growing business owner asks (2025-26)
4 August 2026
A plain-English answer to when a company is worth it in Australia — what you save per $10,000 you leave in the business, how to pa…
Read →Try it on your numbers: Sole trader vs company
Want it done right the first time?
The free path is all above. A registered tax agent does it in days, not months, and without the rejection letters. Fixed fee before we start.