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TOFA: What, Why, Who, When and How一文读懂 TOFA 金融安排课税规则

    1. WHAT — What is TOFA?   什么是 TOFA？

    TOFA — the Taxation of Financial Arrangements, in Division 230 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 — decides two things about financial instruments: in which income year a gain or loss is recognised, and whether it is income or capital. It is not a new tax and it does not change how much you make; it changes the timing and character of that profit for tax purposes.
    TOFA（金融安排课税，规定于《1997年所得税评估法》第230节）针对金融工具决定两件事：收益或损失在哪一个所得年度确认，以及属收入性质还是资本性质。它不是新税种，也不改变你赚了多少，改变的是这笔利润在税务上的确认时点与性质。



    In plain terms, a financial arrangement is an arrangement whose substance is money in and money out. The legal test is a cash settlable right to receive, or obligation to provide, a financial benefit — meaning the item is money, is expected to be settled in money, or can readily be turned into money in a liquid market.
    通俗地说，「金融安排」就是本质上「进钱、出钱」的安排。法律标准是：可现金结算的、收取或提供「财务利益」的权利或义务——即该项目本身就是钱、预期以钱结算，或可在流动市场上随时变现。

      • Inside TOFA: loans (including intercompany), bonds, notes and bank bills, derivatives (swaps, FX forwards, options, futures), foreign currency accounts, and foreign currency receivables and payables/落入 TOFA：贷款（含集团内往来）、债券、票据与银行承兑汇票、衍生工具（掉期、外汇远期、期权、期货）、外币账户，以及外币应收应付款项
      • Outside TOFA: contracts for goods or services not yet delivered, short-term arrangements of 12 months or less involving non-monetary items, most leases, partnership interests, insurance, superannuation, franked distributions and certain earnouts/不落入 TOFA：尚未交付的商品或服务合同、期限不超过12个月的非货币性短期安排、多数租赁、合伙权益、保险、养老金、已完税分配及某些盈利支付（earnout）安排
    The dividing line is whether a not insignificant part of the deal is something other than money. Buying a desk on deferred payment is not a financial arrangement — you are receiving a desk. Paying now to receive listed shares later is, because the shares can be turned into cash at any time.
    分界线在于：该交易中是否有「非微不足道」的部分并非金钱。递延付款购买办公桌不构成金融安排——你收到的是桌子；而现时付款、日后取得上市股份则构成，因为该股份可随时变现。

    2. WHY — Why do these rules exist?   为什么会有这套规则？

    Before TOFA, tax treatment often followed a financial instrument’s legal form rather than its economic substance, so two deals with identical commercial outcomes could be taxed very differently. The ATO states the objects as reducing tax-driven structuring of financial arrangements and aligning tax recognition with commercial recognition. Note that TOFA is not an exclusive code — where Division 230 is silent, the rest of the income tax law, including CGT, still applies.
    在 TOFA 之前，金融工具的税务处理往往取决于法律形式而非经济实质，商业结果相同的两笔交易可能税务待遇迥异。ATO 说明其目标为：减少以税务为导向的架构设计，并使税务确认贴近商业确认。另须注意，TOFA 并非排他性法典——第230节未涵盖之处，所得税法其余部分（含资本利得税）仍适用。

    Four practical consequences for your business:
    对企业的四项实际影响：
      • Timing differences — tax can fall due years before the cash arrives
        时点差异——可能在收到现金的数年之前就要缴税
      • The capital/revenue question largely disappears — gains are assessable, losses deductible, and CGT generally does not apply
        资本／收入之分基本消失——收益课税、损失可扣除，一般不再适用 CGT
      • Accounting and tax stop agreeing — unrealised movements in your P&L are usually not taxed unless you have elected in
        账税不再一致——损益表中的未实现变动一般不课税，除非已作出相应选择
      • PAYG instalments — TOFA amounts feed the instalment rate, so a timing mismatch becomes a cash flow mismatch
        分期预缴——TOFA 金额影响 PAYG 税率，时点错配即转化为现金流错配

    3. WHO — Which businesses are caught?   哪些企业会被影响？

    TOFA applies automatically, not by choice, once an entity exceeds any one threshold. Individuals are outside the general tests. Entities below the thresholds may elect in, but the election is irrevocable. 一旦实体超过任一门槛即自动适用，而非自行选择。个人不适用一般门槛测试。低于门槛的实体可选择适用，但该选择不可撤销。

    Table 1 / 表 1 — Thresholds and how they are measured 门槛与计算口径

    Three points that catch people out
    三个最容易踩到的点

      • “Aggregated turnover” is worldwide and includes related parties (s 328-115) — an Australian subsidiary with $30m of local turnover is already in if its offshore parent group turns over more than $100m globally
        「合计营业额」是全球口径且含关联方（第328-115条）——澳洲子公司本地营业额仅 3,000 万，但境外母公司集团全球营业额超过 1 亿，该子公司即已适用
      • “Financial assets of $100 million” catches non-financial businesses — a trading group holding large cash, term deposits or intercompany loans can be in without ever thinking of itself as a financial business
        「金融资产 1 亿澳元」会把非金融企业纳入——持有大额现金、定期存款或集团内借款的贸易集团，即便从不自视为金融企业也可能落入
      • Once in, always in — falling below the threshold later does not release you
        一旦适用即永久适用——日后低于门槛也不能退出

    4. WHEN — Timing   什么时候做？

    Thresholds are tested at the end of the preceding income year, so your 30 June balance sheet and turnover determine whether TOFA applies for the following year. A voluntary election can be made at any time during a year and applies from that year’s first day. Elections are not retrospective — they cover only arrangements you start to have in the election year or later, and the two transitional elections are now closed. 门槛以上一所得年度结束时测试，因此 6月30日的资产负债表与营业额决定下一年度是否适用。自愿选择可于年度内任何时点作出，自该年度首日起生效。选择不具追溯效力——仅涵盖你在选择年度或之后开始持有的安排；两项过渡性选择现已关闭。

    Table 2 / 表 2 — When a gain or loss is taxed 收益或损失何时课税

    Example: a zero-coupon bond bought for $100 repaying $133.10 in three years. The $33.10 gain is sufficiently certain, so accruals spread it at a 10% implicit rate — $10.00, $11.00 and $12.10 assessable across the three years. You pay tax in years 1 and 2 despite receiving no cash.
    例：以 100 澳元购入零息债券，三年后偿还 133.10 澳元。33.10 澳元的收益属「足够确定」，按权责发生制以 10% 隐含利率分摊——三年分别应税 10.00、11.00 与 12.10 澳元。第一、二年分文未收却已要缴税。

     

    When you sell, transfer or end an arrangement — including repaying a loan early — a Subdivision 230-G balancing adjustment squares everything up, so the total gain or loss over the whole life is taxed exactly once. If you bought a five-year bond for $1,000, took two $100 coupons already taxed, then sold it for $1,050, only the remaining $50 is brought to account.
    当你出售、转让或终止某项安排时（包括提前偿还贷款），须依第230-G分节作平衡调整结算，确保整个存续期的收益或损失恰好被课税一次。例如：以 1,000 澳元购入五年期债券，已收并已课税两期各 100 澳元票息，之后以 1,050 澳元售出，则仅就剩余的 50 澳元入账。

    5. HOW — Five steps   怎么做？五个步骤

      • Step 1 — Test whether you are in, using last year’s closing figures, at entity level rather than group level/第一步——以上一年度期末数据在「单一实体」层面（而非集团层面）判断是否适用
      • Step 2 — Build a register of every loan, deposit, debt security, derivative and foreign currency balance, with start date, maturity, currency and accounting classification
        第二步——建立清册，列示每笔贷款、存款、债务证券、衍生工具与外币余额，注明起始日、到期日、币种与会计分类
      • Step 3 — Strike out the exclusions; what remains is your TOFA population
        第三步——剔除排除项，剩下的即为 TOFA 适用范围
      • Step 4 — Choose your timing method: do nothing and the defaults apply, or elect one of the four methods below
        第四步——选择计时方法：不作为则适用默认方法，或选用下列四种方法之一
      • Step 5 — Keep the signed election forms permanently, complete the TOFA labels in the return and the International Dealings Schedule, recalculate the PAYG instalment rate, and refresh the register each year
        第五步——永久保存已签署的选择表格，填报申报表及《国际交易附表》中的 TOFA 标签，重算 PAYG 分期预缴税率，并每年更新清册

    Table 3 / 表 3 — The four elective methods 四种可选方法

    All four require audited financial reports under applicable accounting standards, and all are irrevocable. Model the outcome before you sign.
    四者均以依适用会计准则编制的经审计财务报告为前提，且均不可撤销。签署之前请先行测算。

    6. Five Situations We See Most Often   五个最常见的实务情景

    Situation 1 – Crossing the threshold because of a cash pile
    情景 1 — 因现金余额跨过门槛

    A manufacturer sells a division and holds $120m in cash and term deposits at 30 June, on turnover of only $60m. It fails the turnover and total asset tests but meets the $100m financial assets test, so TOFA applies from the following year — and spending the cash later will not take it back out.
    某制造企业出售一个分部，6月30日持有现金与定存 1.2 亿澳元，而营业额仅 6,000 万。它未达营业额与总资产测试，但满足 1 亿澳元金融资产测试，因此自下一年度起适用 TOFA——日后把现金用掉也不能退出。

    Situation 2 – Term deposit maturing after year end
    情景 2 — 跨年度到期的定期存款

    $5m is placed on 1 February for 12 months at 5%, with all interest (about $250,000) paid on maturity the following 31 January. The interest is fixed and certain, so accruals apply: roughly $104,000 is assessable this year even though the bank has paid nothing. The bank’s statement only arrives after maturity, so this accrual is easily missed.
    2月1日存入 500 万澳元、期限12个月、利率5%，全部利息约 25 万澳元于次年1月31日到期时支付。该利息固定且确定，适用权责发生制：本年度须计入约 10.4 万澳元应税所得，尽管银行尚未支付分文。银行利息单要到期后才出，因此这笔应计利息很容易被漏掉。

    Situation 3 – Unpaid foreign currency invoice at year end
    情景 3 — 年末未收的外币发票

    A USD 1m export invoice raised in May is still unpaid at 30 June and the accounts record an unrealised FX gain. The receivable is a financial arrangement, so Division 230 applies and Division 775 does not. Exchange rates are not sufficiently certain, so realisation applies — the gain is assessable only on settlement. The unrealised amount stays a reconciling item unless the FX retranslation election is made.
    5月开出 100 万美元出口发票，至6月30日未收款，账上确认了未实现汇兑收益。该应收款构成金融安排，适用第230节而非第775节。汇率并不「足够确定」，故适用实现法——该收益仅在结算时课税。除非作出外汇重估折算选择，否则未实现金额将始终是账税调节项目。

    Situation 4 – Foreign currency intercompany loan
    情景 4 — 外币集团内借款

    An overseas parent lends USD 10m to its Australian subsidiary for five years. The accounts revalue it annually, but under the default realisation method none of those movements is assessable or deductible — the entire cumulative FX gain or loss crystallises in the year of repayment. Model that year in advance. Division 974 debt/equity, transfer pricing and thin capitalisation still need separate consideration.
    境外母公司向澳洲子公司提供五年期 1,000 万美元借款。账上每年重估，但在默认的实现法下，这些波动既不课税也不可扣除——累计汇兑损益将在偿还当年一次性确认，金额可能很大。应提前对该年度进行测算。此外，第974节债／权益划分、转让定价与资本弱化仍须另行考量。

    Situation 5 – FX forward hedging an inventory purchase
    情景 5 — 对冲进货货款的外汇远期

    A forward is entered in May to buy USD for stock arriving in August. The forward is inside TOFA; the inventory purchase contract is not. By default the forward’s gain is recognised on close-out while the stock cost flows through trading stock on a different basis — a real mismatch if they fall in different years. The hedging election fixes it, but it is one-in-all-in and the documentation must be contemporaneous.
    5月订立远期合约买入美元，用于支付8月到货的存货货款。远期合约落入 TOFA，而存货采购合同不落入。默认情况下，远期收益于平仓时确认，存货成本则按另一套基准通过存货反映——若两者落在不同年度，即产生实质错配。「对冲」选择可解决，但采「一进全进」且文档须同期备妥。

    7. Three Quick Answers   三个快速问答

    7.1 Are foreign exchange gains and losses caught by TOFA?
    外汇损益会被 TOFA 涵盖吗？

    Yes, if you are a TOFA entity. Division 775, the general forex regime, does not apply to financial arrangements subject to Division 230. If you are not a TOFA entity, Division 775 continues to apply as before.
    会——前提是你属于 TOFA 实体。作为通用外汇制度的第775节，不适用于受第230节规范的金融安排。若并非 TOFA 实体，则第775节照旧适用。


    7.2 We are a trading company, not a bank. Can we really be caught? 我们是贸易公司而非银行，也会被涵盖吗？

    Yes. The $100m turnover, $300m assets and $100m financial assets tests apply to any entity other than an individual, and turnover is aggregated across the global group.
    会。1 亿澳元营业额、3 亿澳元资产与 1 亿澳元金融资产三项测试适用于个人以外的任何实体，且营业额须在全球集团层面合并计算。


    7.3 Can we change our mind about an election? 选择之后可以反悔吗？

    No. The ATO’s guidance is blunt: TOFA elections are complex and cannot be revoked.
    不可以。ATO 的指引表述明确：TOFA 选择既复杂，且不可撤销。

    How INP Group can help
    INP Group 如何协助

    We can test whether your entities cross the thresholds, build and review your financial arrangement register, model the tax outcome under each elective method before an irrevocable election is signed, and prepare the contemporaneous documentation the hedging rules require. Please contact your INP Group adviser.
    我们可协助测试贵集团各实体是否跨越门槛、建立并复核金融安排清册、在签署不可撤销的选择之前测算各方法的税务结果，并编制对冲规则所要求的同期文档。欢迎联系您的 INP Group 顾问。

    Source: Australian Taxation Office — Taxation of financial arrangements (TOFA); Guide to TOFA; Foreign exchange gains and losses, ato.gov.au (accessed 12 August 2026)

    资料来源：澳大利亚税务局（ATO）——《金融安排课税（TOFA）》《TOFA 指引》《外汇收益与损失》，ato.gov.au（浏览日期：2026年8月12日）

    Disclaimer: This article is general information only and does not constitute tax, legal or investment advice. Please contact an INP Group adviser before acting on any of the matters discussed.

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