We wanted to get some views on the tax ramifications of the following scenario:
- We will be hired by Company A in Japan, to do a project in Australia
- The project requires a new car, which isn't yet available as a rental anywhere
- Company A will transfer funds to purchase the car from their account in Japan to our account in the US (Probably $30~35k)
- Once we decide on a car and a dealership, we will wire the funds from our account in the US to the dealer's account in Australia
- The car will be registered under an Australian person we are working with on the project
- After the project is done (in about a month and a half), we will sell the car back to a dealership (for probably 50 to 60% of the price we bought it at)
- The dealership we sell it to will wire the funds from their account in Australia to our account in the US
- We will wire the funds from our account in the US to Company A's account in Japan
In concept, this is just a business expense that Company A happens to be paying for us, on a prepaid basis. But in terms of the flow of cash, would it look otherwise to the tax authorities? What are the chances this would be considered revenue? And any other things that we should be aware of?
Any insights / advice would be much appreciated!
- We will be hired by Company A in Japan, to do a project in Australia
- The project requires a new car, which isn't yet available as a rental anywhere
- Company A will transfer funds to purchase the car from their account in Japan to our account in the US (Probably $30~35k)
- Once we decide on a car and a dealership, we will wire the funds from our account in the US to the dealer's account in Australia
- The car will be registered under an Australian person we are working with on the project
- After the project is done (in about a month and a half), we will sell the car back to a dealership (for probably 50 to 60% of the price we bought it at)
- The dealership we sell it to will wire the funds from their account in Australia to our account in the US
- We will wire the funds from our account in the US to Company A's account in Japan
In concept, this is just a business expense that Company A happens to be paying for us, on a prepaid basis. But in terms of the flow of cash, would it look otherwise to the tax authorities? What are the chances this would be considered revenue? And any other things that we should be aware of?
Any insights / advice would be much appreciated!