The EET election lets discretionary trusts avoid the 30% minimum tax without restructuring, but the price is steep. One wrong distribution ends the election for good. This article examines the election: its conditions, its limits, and its risks for trustees and their advisers.

Returning to Australia after working overseas? Here’s what to consider if you have retirement savings held abroad.

In Part 2 of our two-part series, we examine the option of withdrawing your overseas pension or superannuation as a lump sum, including when it may be available and the key tax implications to consider.

Elect, restructure or pay 30%. Treasury's exposure drafts give trustees of discretionary trusts two ways to avoid the minimum tax, but both carry strict conditions. This article explains the new rules and tracks how they respond to the points we raised in our July submission to Treasury.

Family trust elections (FTEs), and the related interposed entity elections (IEEs), have been a feature of the tax law for almost 30 years with the rules effectively unchanged since 2007.

Returning to Australia after working overseas? Here’s what to consider if you have retirement savings held abroad.

In Part 1 of our two-part series, we explore transferring overseas super or pension benefits into an Australian super fund, including eligibility, tax implications, contribution caps and other key considerations.

Merchant in a post-Budget world or when High Court anti-avoidance doctrine meets structural trust reform.

AS Residential Property No. 1 Pty Ltd as trustee for AS Residential Property No, 1 Trust v Commissioner of State Revenue [2026] VCAT 648

Taxpayer successful in overturning a $36.2 million Windfall Gains Tax Assessment by applying the transition rules to show that the Minister had approved the rezoning prior to the 15 May 2021 announcement of the new tax.

ISPT Pty Ltd as trustee for ISPT Retail Australia Property Trust v Commissioner of State Revenue [2026] VSC 480

A new Victorian Supreme Court case has considered the landholder duty consequences where an acquisition of a 75.8% interest in a public unit trust schemes were initially not subject to duty, but became dutiable when combined with a subsequent 19.46% acquisition.  The first acquisition had caused the funds to cease to be public unit trust schemes.

Family trusts, bucket companies, and UPEs are back in the spotlight. Treasury’s consultation paper on a 30% minimum tax for discretionary trusts gives tax advisers a short window to be heard.

Our preliminary thoughts on the Treasury Consultation paper on “minimum tax on discretion trusts’ are below.

On 18 November 2025, ATO guidance QC 105857 was updated after the ATO raised concerns with arrangements where newly incorporated beneficiary companies claim franking credits.

Following first round consultation, the Government has announced an increase in the turnover threshold for the small business 50% active asset CGT reduction from $2m to $10m and, following the release of a consultation paper, further concessions for start-ups and early-stage investors. It has also confirmed that all testamentary trusts will be exempt from the minimum tax, with detail to follow in consultation.

The death of a family trust's test individual creates significant difficulties under the family trust election (FTE) rules Schedule 2F. This article examines the FTE rules in the context of succession.

TR 2026/1 finalised. Holiday homes that double as rentals face a new section 26-50 hurdle. The ATO denies ownership deductions unless the property is mainly rented out, and reserving peak weeks for family use is a red flag. Transitional relief ends 1 July 2026.

A new Victorian case has looked at whether a person has a life interest in a holiday home and the land tax position for holders of life interests.

Some early industry discussion on the 2026–27 Budget measure has suggested that the effective tax rate on trust income distributed to a bucket company will rise to around 51 per cent once the minimum tax commences on 1 July 2028.

‍ The Commissioner has not applied for special leave to appeal to the High Court the Full Federal Court decision of Commissioner of Taxation v Morton [2026] FCAFC 31.

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The Tribunal highlights why a standalone written loan agreement may be best practice for Division 7A compliance.

The small business capital gains tax (CGT) concessions (Concessions) in Division 152 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 97) offer significant opportunities to reduce or eliminate tax levied on capital gains. However, despite a recent judicial pronouncement that the Concessions should be interpreted beneficially, the legislative conditions for relief are intricate and complex.

This paper equips SME and private-wealth advisers to identify when "big-end" corporate tax rules affect their clients and when to escalate to specialist advice. The five regimes covered are: Debt Deduction Creation Rules (DDCR), thin capitalisation, transfer pricing, hybrid mismatches, and taxation of financial arrangements (TOFA).

‍The Victorian Supreme Court in its recent decision has refused the taxpayer leave to appeal the VCAT decision of Tao v Commissioner of State Revenue [2024] VCAT 637.

This upholds the decision of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal that imposed landholder duty on a change of shareholder and director of a trustee company and confirms the drastic widening of the landholder duty change of control provisions which no longer requires the acquisition of units or shares or any rights similar to share or unit ownership.