Advanced tax
Complex tax for structures and transactions: employment remuneration, property, financial transactions and cross-border issues, in Australian and New Zealand streams.
Complex tax for structures and transactions, built around the issues and the advice that carry the marks. Everything you need, nothing you don't.
One pack, $95 AUD, instant PDF download.
Independent study notes for accounting certification candidates. Not affiliated with any professional body.
What this subject is really about
Advanced Tax builds on the core Tax subject, which is its prerequisite. Where the core subject teaches the machinery, this elective applies it to the harder questions a client actually brings: how remuneration and property are taxed, how structures compare, and what happens when transactions turn financial or cross a border.
The subject runs in two streams, Australian and New Zealand, following the stream of your core Tax subject. The marks reward advising a specific taxpayer on a complex issue and communicating it clearly, so the notes are built around the analysis and the advice, not recitation of the rules.
The two chapters, and what each covers
A short chapter on remuneration and assets, then one deep chapter on structures and transactions that carries most of the subject. Here is the whole scope before you enrol.
Employment remuneration, property and assets
How pay and property are taxed at the advanced level.
- Employment remuneration
- Property and assets
Taxation of structures and transactions
The heart of the subject, across three deep topics.
- Tax structures
- Financial transactions
- International and cross-border transactions
What you'll actually apply
The subject applies the law from your core Tax stream to complex facts. These are the areas the questions turn on, in whichever stream you sit.
How the forms of pay beyond salary are taxed, and the interactions that follow.
The tax treatment of property and asset transactions at the advanced level.
How the choice and use of structures changes the tax outcome, the deepest topic in the subject.
The tax treatment of financing and financial arrangements.
Cross-border issues: residence, source and the treatment of transactions that cross the border.
Turning the analysis into advice a specific taxpayer can act on, which is what the assessment marks.
Tax law, rates and thresholds move every year. This reflects the subject as at the start of 2026, so confirm the current law against your subject materials before you rely on it.
How it's assessed
This subject has no invigilated exam. It is assessed by one submission in two parts, submitted together in the final week.
Written submission
A scenario on a complex tax issue for a specific type of taxpayer. You produce a written response on the treatment and its implications.
Recorded presentation
You pick an element of your written response and present it to a specific stakeholder group, showing you can communicate complex tax clearly.
Advice led
The marks are in the analysis and the communication, so the pack is worked cases, not a timed paper.
The traps worth knowing before the assessment
These are the mistakes markers see most often in advanced tax answers. The advice, not the rule, earns the marks.
Answering the rule instead of the taxpayer. The assessment names a specific type of taxpayer, and the treatment and implications must fit them, not a generic case.
Skipping the implications. Stating the treatment is half the answer; the marks build when you say what it means for the taxpayer and what they should do.
Treating the structure as a label. The tax outcome turns on how the structure actually operates and who bears the income, not on its name.
Ignoring the stream. The Australian and New Zealand streams differ in their financial and cross-border topics, so answer inside your own stream's law.
Losing the audience in the presentation. The video is marked on communicating complex tax to a named stakeholder group, so pitch it to them, not to a marker.
Carrying figures across years. Rates and thresholds move, so a number from last year's materials can quietly be wrong.
The kind of question you'll face
A short scenario of the kind the subject uses, so you can see what advanced tax advice looks like on paper.
Bowerbird Holdings runs a family business through a structure set up a decade ago, has begun selling into an overseas market, and is weighing how to fund the expansion. The owners ask what the current structure means for the new activity and the financing. How do you advise?
Working the structure's actual operation, the tax treatment of the cross-border sales and the financing options, and turning the analysis into advice this taxpayer can act on.
The worked case runs the analysis to a recommendation, with the reasoning laid out so you can see how a strong answer is built.
How to study it around a full-time job
The subject runs over a 7-week study period, six teaching weeks then the assessment. Here is a plan that fits it around work.
Remuneration and property
The first chapter, plus a check of your core Tax knowledge, which the subject assumes from the start.
Tax structures
The deepest topic, spread over two weeks in the subject itself. Work comparisons between structures, not descriptions of each.
Financial transactions
The tax treatment of financing and financial arrangements in your stream.
Cross-border
International transactions. Keep residence and source at the front of every answer.
Draft and record
Review everything, draft the written response for the named taxpayer, and rehearse the presentation for its stakeholder group.
See what's in the pack
A real example of each part of the pack, not stock previews. This is the product doing the talking.
Plain English, assessment ready
The whole subject rewritten to be read fast. Here is the discipline the assessment marks, as it appears in the notes.
Treatment, then implications
An advanced tax answer has two halves. The treatment: what the law does to this transaction, in this structure, for this taxpayer. The implications: what that means in cash and obligations, and what the taxpayer should do next. Most candidates stop at the first half, and most of the marks sit in the second.
The advice frame on one page
- Name the taxpayer and their structure before touching the law
- Work the structure's actual operation, not its label
- Treatment first, then implications, then the recommendation
- Cross-border: residence and source before anything else
- Answer inside your stream, AU or NZ
Cases marked like the real thing
Scenario-led cases that mirror the written submission, each with a model response to learn from.
Common questions
How is this different from the core Tax subject?
The core subject teaches the machinery of the tax system. This elective applies it to complex issues, remuneration, property, structures, financial and cross-border transactions, and marks you on the advice, not the recall.
Australian or New Zealand tax?
Both. The subject runs in two streams, and you follow the stream of your core Tax subject. Our pack follows the Australian stream, and the advice frame holds for either.
Is there an exam?
No. The subject is assessed by a single submission with a written part and a recorded presentation, submitted together in the final week.
What do I need before I start?
Two prerequisites: Ethics and Business or Ethics and Sustainability, and the core Tax subject in your stream. The subject assumes a good understanding of taxation from day one.
How much time should I budget?
The subject runs over a 7-week study period and expects about 95 hours in total, roughly 15 hours a week across six teaching weeks plus assessment.
Are these notes affiliated with the program?
No. Summo Notes is an independent study resource and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any professional body.
What is in the pack?
One full subject pack: condensed notes across the two chapters, A quick reference to the advice frame, worked advanced tax cases with model responses and structure guidance for the written submission and presentation.
How do I get it, and what format is it in?
Everything is a PDF you download straight after checkout, so you can start the same day. It reads well on a laptop, tablet or printed out.
What does it cost?
$95 AUD, as a single one-off payment for the whole subject. There is no subscription and no per-chapter pricing.
Everything in one pack
One pack per subject. Notes, a quick reference and worked cases, together.
- +Condensed notes across the two chapters
- +A quick reference to the advice frame
- +Worked advanced tax cases with model responses
- +Structure guidance for the written submission and presentation
Summo Notes is an independent study resource and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any professional body.