Tax Efficiency Shouldn’t Cost Women Their Safety

Shaye Thyer
Sep 19
3 min read

Open Letter: Accountants, Stop Enabling Financial Abuse

“Optimise tax across the family group.”

Sounds harmless. Efficient. Best practice.

Except when that “efficiency” becomes the very structure that traps women in financial abuse.

For years in practice, I delivered advice that looked smart on paper but had devastating, gendered consequences in reality.

Making her sole director of a company she doesn’t run.
Distributing trust income to her for tax purposes—but never actually paying it.
Offsetting his higher tax burden with her “low income” during baby years—while she gets no super, no safety net, and no say.

And when the family breaks down? She’s left with the ATO debt. The Director Penalty Notice. The legacy of decisions she never truly consented to.

We wouldn’t let a doctor operate without explaining the risks. So why do we keep letting financial professionals restructure women’s futures without the same standard of care?

From Ignorance to Complicity

I used to believe this was ignorance. That accountants and tax advisers just “didn’t think” about the possibility of relationship breakdown or financial abuse.

But the longer I’ve been in this profession, the harder it is to pretend that’s all it is.

We work in a system designed by men, for men, to the greatest benefit of men. Delivered mostly by men. And the outcomes reflect that imbalance.

At best? It’s innocent naivety.

At worst? It’s wilful blindness.

And either way—it makes us complicit.

Economic Abuse Is Not Neutral

Let’s be clear: this isn’t a rare edge case.

1 in 6 women (vs 1 in 13 men) in Australia has experienced economic abuse by a partner.
At UNSW’s Tax & Business Advisory Clinic, 80% of financially vulnerable women had experienced domestic or family violence—and 14% were saddled with tax debt because of it.
The Parliamentary Inquiry estimated the cost of financial abuse to women at $5.7 billion annually.

This is not compliance. It’s violence.

And when our advice enables it, even indirectly, we become part of the machinery.

What Accountants and Advisers Can Do Differently

This is not just a rant. This is a challenge. Because if we’re serious about ethics and duty of care, here’s what needs to change:

Informed consent, always. Don’t restructure someone’s tax without making sure she understands the implications—not just him.
Stop assuming permanence. Don’t structure tax planning on the assumption the family will always stay intact. Separation is common. Abuse is more common than we want to admit.
Challenge default directorships. Stop making her the director of his company “for efficiency.” If she’s not involved operationally, she shouldn’t carry the risk.
Distributions must equal dollars. If you’re distributing income to her name, make sure the cash actually flows. Otherwise, you’re setting her up for tax bills she can’t pay.
See the gendered reality. Women already face the motherhood penalty, lower super, and higher unpaid labour. Stop stacking additional financial risks on top.
Adopt a safeguarding lens.

Ask: Could this structure be weaponised against her if the relationship breaks down? If the answer is yes, don’t do it.

This Is Our Duty of Care

To my fellow accountants:

We are not neutral actors. The decisions we make shape lives, livelihoods, and sometimes survival.

We cannot keep hiding behind “technical compliance.” We must stop enabling financial abuse—through ignorance, laziness, or wilful naivety.

It’s time to step up. To design structures that protect both parties. To advocate for reform where systems enable abuse. To treat financial safety with the same weight as financial efficiency.

Because when we ignore this reality, it’s not just bad practice. It’s negligence.

Your Turn

To my colleagues in the profession: What’s one change you think we need to make to stop enabling abuse and start protecting women?

I’d love to hear it. Let’s not keep looking away.

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