Sladen Thoughts

Legal industry latest news and insights

Stay up to date with legal industry news and updates. Sladen Legal provide regular updates on changes and news in the Australian Legal Industry.

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Neil Brydges 5/10/26 Neil Brydges 5/10/26

Tax on trusts: what is a “minimum tax trust”? The definition that decides everything

Treasury's draft 30 per cent minimum tax on discretionary trusts turns on one classification: is the trust a minimum tax trust? The definition works by exclusion, so every trust is caught unless it fits one of the carve-outs or an EET is made. Here is what that means before 1 July 2028.

Daniel Smedley 30/9/26 Daniel Smedley 30/9/26

Testamentary trusts and the minimum tax: did the Government change its position, or was it just a misstatement?

The Government said testamentary trusts would be "excluded" from the minimum tax. The exposure draft says otherwise. Our article explains the income-level relief, its three conditions, and what practitioners should review now.

Neil Brydges 7/9/26 Neil Brydges 7/9/26

Minimum tax on discretionary trusts: the drafts arrive, the questions remain

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.

Neil Brydges 5/6/26 Neil Brydges 5/6/26

Death, deceased estates, and family trust elections: Schedule 2F and succession

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.

James Gao 12/5/26 James Gao 12/5/26

Frizelle and Commissioner of Taxation – section 99B in action

In Frizelle and Commissioner of Taxation [2026] ARTA 752, the Administrative Review Tribunal considered whether distributions received by an Australian resident beneficiary from a chain of non-resident discretionary trusts were assessable under section 99B of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Cth).

Neil Brydges 11/5/26 Neil Brydges 11/5/26

David and Goliath: capital and revenue lessons from Morton

‍ 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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Neil Brydges 9/4/25 Neil Brydges 9/4/25

AusNet v FCT and back-to-back rollovers: nothing else matters?

This article considers the views of the Full Federal Court in AusNet v FCT on the “nothing else” condition in Division 615 and what those views may mean for proposed ATO guidance on sequential transactions and the “nothing else” condition of a rollover.

Sladen Legal 28/10/24 Sladen Legal 28/10/24

Debt deduction creation rules – coming to a private group near you

While the thin capitalisation rules have traditionally had limited application to many private groups, the new debt deduction creation rules (DDCR) that apply from 1 July 2024 are a clear creep into that space.

Kaitilin Lowdon 8/3/24 Kaitilin Lowdon 8/3/24

Quy v FCT: less than 2 months in Australia … I still call Australia home

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (Tribunal) has held in Quy v FCT [2024] AATA 245 that a taxpayer, who was physically in Australia for less than 2 months each year, was a resident of Australian tax purposes.

Neil Brydges 2/10/23 Neil Brydges 2/10/23

UPEs as loans - end of an era?

If 16 December 2009 was the beginning of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) treating an unpaid present entitlement (UPE) with a corporate beneficiary as a loan for purposes of Division 7A, could 28 September 2023 be the end of that era?

Neil Brydges 18/7/22 Neil Brydges 18/7/22

TD 2022/11: ATO finalises views, relief for some taxpayers but a sting for others

We wrote about Draft Taxation Determination TD 2022/D1 (Draft TD) on Division 7A and unpaid present entitlements (UPEs) here. On 12 July 2022, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) finalised the Draft TD as Taxation Determination TD 2022/11 (Final TD).

25/5/22 25/5/22

Is Cryptocurrency a Foreign Currency for Tax Purposes?

Taxpayers using cryptocurrency in their businesses, including as a means of paying expenses such as staff or contractors or as a means of deriving income through investments, mining or trading, is becoming more common. After a particularly volatile year for the values of cryptocurrency many taxpayers may have significant gains or losses associated with their cryptocurrency transactions.

11/5/22 11/5/22

Horse breeding found to qualify for the primary production land tax exemption

The NSW Supreme Court’s (NSWSC) decision in Godolphin Australia Pty Ltd v Chief Commissioner of State Revenue [2022] NSWSC 430 (Godolphin Case) is instructive as it provides guidance into the ambit and scope of the land tax primary production exemption particularly in relation to the breeding of horses.

Neil Brydges 13/4/22 Neil Brydges 13/4/22

Section 100A: welcome Media Release by the Assistant Treasurer

We wrote that 2022 is the ‘Year of 100A’ after the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) released three guidance products, two in draft, on section 100A and the ATO’s appeal to the Full Federal Court from the decision of Logan J in Guardian AIT Pty Ltd ATF Australian Investment Trust v FCT [2021] FCA 1619 on section 100A.

Neil Brydges 8/3/22 Neil Brydges 8/3/22

Draft Taxation Determination TD 2022/D1: much ado about nothing or a seismic shift?

After our semi-serious opening statement on the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) recently released guidance on section 100A and unpaid present entitlements, this is one of a series of deep-dive articles on that guidance. These articles look at each of the ATO guidance products separately and then we discuss what the overall impact may be.

Sladen Legal 24/2/22 Sladen Legal 24/2/22

Draft ATO guidance on 100A and UPEs: is everything awesome?

After six years the ATO has released draft guidance on section 100A. Keeping with the draft theme, the ATO also released (updated) draft views on when an unpaid present entitlement held on sub-trust becomes financial accommodation for purposes of Division 7A.

Neil Brydges 21/1/22 Neil Brydges 21/1/22

Guardian AIT: section 100A – the end of the beginning?

Winston Churchill famously said “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

19/10/21 19/10/21

Sladen Snippet – TD 2021/D5 genuine disposal restrictions in employee share schemes

Whether an employee has genuine restrictions on disposing of an option/right or share issued under an employee share scheme (ESS) can determine whether tax can be deferred, and until when, under the ESS.

3/6/21 3/6/21

McCarthy: sale of two-lot development taxed as ordinary income

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.

21/5/21 21/5/21

2021 Victorian State Budget - Prepare for tax increases

The Victorian State Budget for the 2021-2022 year brings with it particularly broad-ranging state taxation measures that will impact a diverse cross-section of the Victorian community. The changes include increased land tax and transfer (stamp) duty rates as well as new tax measures such as the windfall gain tax on rezoned land and a mental health and wellbeing levy (payroll tax surcharge).