Our experience
Arnold Bloch Leibler’s Executive Compensation and Employee Share Schemes team provides commercial, taxation and employment advice to leading ASX listed companies, private companies and innovative start-up businesses on all aspects of the design, implementation and administration of their employee incentive structures.
We regularly advise clients on executive compensation structuring, founder top-ups, staff attraction and retention, tax concessions, regulatory obligations, loan and contribution plans and international tax related issues.
Our team is also actively involved with the Australian Taxation Office and industry peak bodies on all aspects of employee share schemes and our partners hold various committee positions within the Australian and international employee incentive community.
How we can help
Our team has experience working with, and setting up a variety of employee incentive plan types, including:
- performance rights plans (zero exercise price)
- NED rights plans (salary sacrifice)
- employee share plans
- employee option plans
- $1,000 tax exempt share plans
- $5,000 salary sacrifice plans
- share appreciation rights plans
- premium priced option plans
- start-up share and option plans
- loan funded share plans
- phantom cash plans.
“Their advice has always been on point and succinct and their people have been great to work with. They listen and they get results.”
Awards & recognition
Arnold Bloch Leibler is consistently noted in the areas of tax law by various Australian and international legal publications and awards programs, including:
- Best Lawyers: Recognised as 'Law Firm of the Year' for Tax.
- Chambers Asia Pacific: Ranked as a leading tax law firm in Australia.
- Legal 500 Asia Pacific: Ranked as a leading tax law firm in Australia.
- Doyle's Guide: Noted as a leading tax law firm in Victoria.
- Tax Institute of Australia's 'Tax Advisor of the Year'.
People
Insights & news
News Media
Time for government to “lean in” to ESS reform
Writing in today’s AFR, tax partner Shaun Cartoon reflects on how far we’ve come in Australia, and how much needs to be done to realise the potential of employee share schemes.
22 May 2025
News Announcement
Eileen Liu recognised as a rising star in Australian tax law
Eileen has been announced as a finalist in the tax category of this year’s hotly contested Lawyers Weekly 30 Under 30 Awards.
28 November 2024
Insights Media
UK Employee Share Ownership guru visits Australia with a tried-and-tested strategy for lifting productivity
Tax partner Shaun Cartoon writes in today’s edition of The Australian that while the government searches for new ideas to boost productivity, it should be exploring a thriving new model of employee share ownership that’s taken off in the United Kingdom.
19 November 2024
Insights Events
Wrap up: Workplace Reform and Employee Benefits Special Briefing
Over the last two weeks, the firm’s workplace advisory and tax teams co-presented a special briefing for clients on effective strategies for engaging, retaining and rewarding employees. The session was delivered in both our Melbourne and Sydney office and provoked plenty of questions from participants.
5 June 2024
Insights Article
In conversation with Eileen Liu
Eileen Liu, a lawyer in Arnold Bloch Leibler's market leading taxation practice, recently represented the firm at the Global Equity Organization’s annual conference in Nashville, where a world-first report that she was involved in producing was launched. Eileen is a member of the GEO’s Australian chapter committee and was joint recipient of the GEO Star Award in 2023 for her contributions.
30 May 2024
News Media
No medals for Australia in inaugural survey of employee share schemes
The first global survey of employee share schemes has found Australia lagging well behind the US and advanced economies of Europe, and also New Zealand.
11 April 2024
Insights Article
Australia’s new era of employee ownership
As published in the International Bar Association’s Taxes Committee bulletin, Tax partner Shaun Cartoon and lawyer Eileen Liu recently prepared an article on Australia’s Employee Share Scheme (ESS) regulatory reforms. These reforms have ushered in changes that could significantly impact the design and operation of ESS in Australia.
3 October 2023
Insights Events
Shaun Cartoon discusses ESS policy changes at the Morgan Stanley Australia Summit
Tax Partner, Shaun Cartoon, was invited to be a panellist at Morgan Stanley’s Australia Summit along with Sarah Tinsley, General Counsel and Company Secretary, Culture Amp, and Sally Mulligan, Head of Morgan Stanley at Work APAC.
7 June 2023
Insights Media
Tax system quirk could hit executive hip pockets
In a comment article published in today’s AFR, tax partner Shaun Cartoon explains how the sharemarket’s roller-coaster ride of the past 12 months has created the “perfect storm for self-inflicted, share schemes tax damage.”
26 July 2022
Insights Media
Regulatory reforms to promote greater employee share ownership
An article published in today’s AFR explores how reforms to employee share schemes announced in last month’s federal budget will allow Australian companies to provide meaningful equity incentives to employees in a tight labour market.
13 April 2022
Insights Media
New era for employee share ownership
In a comment article published in today’s AFR, tax partner Shaun Cartoon explains why reforms to be introduced in tomorrow’s federal budget herald a new era of workforce participation and ownership of start-ups.
28 March 2022
Insights Media
Prioritise ESS reforms on path to economic recovery
Tax partner Shaun Cartoon is quoted extensively in an article on proposed changes to Australia’s employee share scheme regime.
2 September 2021
Insights Article
New obligations following overhaul of environment protection regulatory regime
The Environment Protection Amendment Act 2018 starts on 1 July 2021, overhauling the existing environment protection regulatory regime.
30 June 2021