Sladen Legal is delighted to have been identified by clients and peers for expertise and abilities in the 2024 listing of recommended Victorian Property & Real Estate Law Firms - Victoria, 2025

Withholding information whilst negotiating agreements can amount to misleading and deceptive conduct. However, the recent Supreme Court decision in Sec New Line Pty Ltd v Muffin Break Pty Ltd provides important guidance on when silence will become deceptive, specifically in the context of lease and franchising renewals.

The specific wording of a contract is crucial to its interpretation and may be beneficial or a trap to parties. Many parties fail to understand the implications that the well-known phrase ‘subject to contract’ will have on their agreements. Masters v Cameron (1954) 91 CLR 353 is the leading Australian case which examines the consequences of certain wording on parties to a contract, and whether such wording leads to an enforceable and binding contract. 

Sladen Legal is delighted to have been identified by clients and peers for expertise and abilities in the 2024 listing of recommended Victorian Property & Real Estate Law Firms - Victoria, 2024

In an “unusual outcome” concerning a main residence, the AAT has highlighted the breadth of what constitutes a profit-making scheme and the functionality of ATO public rulings.

With land tax rate increases and surcharges imminent as a result of the Victorian State Budget for the 2023-2024 year (see our article here), Victorian landowners may be reconsidering their investment property portfolios and the merits of selling versus keeping.

The ATO’s attacks on SMSFs conducting property development continues! The ATO has released Taxpayer Alert TA 2023/2 (the Alert) confirming that the ATO will review arrangements where related entities of a SMSF are conducting a property development (or including where property development is undertaken on SMSF owned assets) and where a special purpose vehicle (SPV) is used. The SPV being a company or trust which will be a related party to the SMSF through which generally a member of the SMSF may provide property development services to the SMSF for a commercial arm’s length fee and acquire and manage building materials used for the development.

Sladen Legal is delighted to have been identified by clients and peers for expertise and abilities in the 2023 listing of recommended Victorian Property & Real Estate Law Firms - Victoria, 2023

Congratulations to Sladen Legal Principal, Victor Di Felice, who has been has been identified by clients and peers for his expertise and abilities as Recommended in Doyle's Guide's Leading Real Estate Property Lawyers - Victoria, 2022.

Thomas Abraham, Senior Associate at Sladen Legal discusses the newly introduced Windfall Gains Tax in Victoria. The video outlines some key features of the new tax as well as discusses key variations to the tax as compared to when it was initially announced by the Victorian Government.

This paper explains several recent legislative changes that affect real property

Phil Broderick, Sladen Legal Principal presents on The ATO's Current views on conducting property Development through an SMSF at the CPA Australia City Taxation Discussion Group in August 2021.

SMSFs (self managed superannuation funds) have been carrying on property development activities ever since SMSFs came into existence. Yet despite that there is still a common concern that such activities will cause the SMSF to become non-compliant, or subject to penalties, on the basis that such activities, and in particular undertaking a property development business, are prohibited.

A recent Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) decision re-emphasizes that taxpayers who purchase, subdivide, and sell land within a short timeframe may have entered into an isolated profit-making transaction, with any gains assessed on revenue account.

As previously discussed here, the ATO has now finalized the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) In-house Asset Determination — Intermediary Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangement Determination 2020 (Determination).

The Court of Appeal handed down its decision in MD Commercial Pty Ltd v Commissioner of State Revenue [2019] VSCA 295 in late 2019. The decision has provided further clarity on the application of section 35 of the Duties Act 2000 (Vic) which provides an exemption from duty for transfers to bare trusts.

On 29 March 2020 the Federal Government announced changes to the foreign investment review regime as Australia continues to deal with the economic implications of COVID-19.

Once the legislation is passed, effective from 29 March 2020, all proposed foreign investment into Australia subject to the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 will require approval, regardless of the value of the investment or nature of the foreign investor. This is to be achieved by reducing to $0 the monetary screening thresholds for all foreign investment under the Act.

As we previously reported here, in the decision of Thawley J in Greig v Commissioner of Taxation [2018] FCA 1084 the taxpayer was unsuccessful in arguing the loss on selling shares was deductible on the basis he was in the business of dealing in shares. The taxpayer appealed this decision.

The 2019 Victorian budget contained a sleeper in the form of the amendments to the Victorian economic entitlement provisions.

The Victorian Government has introduced the Sale of Land Amendment Bill 2019 (Bill) to Parliament, which proposes to amend the Sale of Land Act 1962 (Vic) (Act). The Bill, if passed, will affect vendors under existing and future off-the-plan contracts.