Division 7A is a ChangeGPS app that helps accountants and tax advisors manage and eliminate private company loans to shareholders and their associates under Division 7A of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (ITAA 1936). The app automates compliance calculations, walks you through a structured five-step wizard, compares elimination strategies side by side, and generates the documentation needed to resolve loans before 30 June each year.
Division 7A is available in Australia.
What Division 7A does
Division 7A calculates the minimum yearly repayment for each complying loan based on the ATO benchmark interest rate applicable to the financial year in which the loan was made.
The app assesses compliance risk for every loan in your analysis, flagging loans where minimum repayments have not been met and where a deemed dividend may arise.
Division 7A models up to six different elimination strategies — including dividend offset, debt forgiveness, bonus or wages, partial repayment, and asset transfer — and compares the tax cost and net benefit of each side by side.
The app generates a professional tax advice document (PDF or Word) and supporting Excel reports including a loan schedule and amortisation table.
Division 7A can import company and borrower details directly from an existing Tax Plan, reducing double entry and keeping your analysis in sync.
Who should use Division 7A
Division 7A is designed for accountants and tax advisors who manage private company clients with shareholder loans, unpaid present entitlements placed on Division 7A terms, or other arrangements that could trigger a deemed dividend under ITAA 1936.
If your client has a private company that has made loans or payments to shareholders or their associates — and those loans are not on complying terms — Division 7A helps you model the options and generate the documentation needed to bring the arrangement into compliance before the end of the income year.
Key features
Five-step wizard — Guides you from company and borrower setup through loan entry, compliance checking, strategy comparison, and document generation in a single structured workflow.
Benchmark rate auto-apply — The ATO benchmark interest rate is automatically applied based on the date each loan was made. You can override this manually if required.
Six elimination strategies — Compare Continue Loan, Dividend Offset, Debt Forgiveness, Partial Repayment, Bonus/Wages, and Asset Transfer side by side, with calculated tax costs and net benefit for each.
Compliance check — The app identifies loans where the interest rate is below the ATO benchmark rate, or where the minimum yearly repayment has not been met, and flags the deemed dividend risk.
Strategy comparison table — All strategies are shown together with total debt, minimum repayment, tax cost, and net benefit so you can identify the best outcome for your client.
TaxPlan import and export — Import company and shareholder details from an existing Tax Plan analysis, and push Division 7A loan data back to Tax Plan once the strategy is finalised.
CIM client import — Search and import client data from the Client Import Manager (CIM) to pre-fill the lending company and borrower details.
Document generation — Export the completed advice as a PDF or Word document. Supporting Excel exports include a loan schedule and a full amortisation table.
Download All — Download a ZIP bundle containing all generated reports in a single click.
Send to client — Email the completed advice report directly to your client from within Division 7A.
How Division 7A fits into ChangeGPS
Division 7A works alongside other ChangeGPS advisory apps to give your client a complete tax planning picture.
Tax Plan — If a Tax Plan exists for the client company, Division 7A can import the company details and shareholder information automatically. Once the elimination strategy is finalised, you can export the loan data back to Tax Plan so the repayments are reflected in your client's broader tax projections.
Trust Distribution — An unpaid present entitlement identified in a trust distribution analysis may need to be placed on Division 7A complying loan terms. Division 7A is the tool for modelling and documenting that arrangement.
Client Import Manager (CIM) — Company and borrower details can be imported from CIM, avoiding manual re-entry of data already held in ChangeGPS.
Getting started
Navigate to the Division 7A app from the ChangeGPS dashboard.
Select New Analysis to start a fresh Division 7A analysis.
In Step 1 — Company & Borrower Setup, enter or import the lending company details and add all borrowers (shareholders and associates).
In Step 2 — Loan Details, add each Division 7A loan, including the original amount, loan date, loan type, and current balance.
Review the compliance check results in Step 3, then compare elimination strategies in Step 4.
In Step 5 — Preview & Export, download the completed advice document, Excel reports, or send the report directly to your client.
Need help?
If you have questions about Division 7A or need assistance with a specific loan scenario, reach out to our support team through the chat widget or contact your account manager.