Legal news
As part of the Victorian State Budget, a number of stamp duty changes have been proposed, many of which have received significant media attention (including the abolition of the off the plan duty concession for investors, the abolition of stamp duty for some first home buyers, and the removal of the blanket duty exemption for transfers between spouses).
Australia has for a long time been one of the only common law countries to enshrine a lawyer’s immunity from suit. The common law principle provides lawyers with an immunity from any claim made against them for negligence arising out of their conduct of a Court case and/or work undertaken outside of Court that results in a decision affecting the conduct of the case in Court.
It’s hard to know what to do with a budget handed down by a Government that will not have enough time to pass any measures before it goes into an election. Do you follow the current laws or the laws as they are proposed to be changed in the future (if the Government is re-elected and if it can pass the measures in the newly constituted parliament)? That is the situation we currently find ourselves in with the proposed super changes and in particular the lifetime non-concessional contributions cap.
We have previously noted in our Snippets in September and December 2015 that, under the legislation to introduce the new managed investment trust rules, it was proposed that self managed superannuation fund(s) (SMSFs) (and other exempt entities that are entitled to a refund of excess imputation credits) be excluded from the 20% tracing rule for the public trading trust rules. This would have resulted, from 1 July 2016, in the public trading trust rules not applying to unit trusts merely because a SMSF held more than 20% of the units in the trust.
n Fischer & Ors v Nemeske Pty Ltd & Ors ([2016] HCA 11; [2014] NSWSC 203), the High Court yesterday upheld the decisions of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and Court of Appeal.
The High Court’s decision confirmed that the resolution of a trustee of a discretionary trust to distribute an amount equal to the value of shares owned by the trustee to a beneficiary (Nemes) created a debt payable upon demand enforceable against the trustee by Nemes’ executor upon Nemes’ death.
Practical Compliance Guidelines PCG 2016/5 Income tax - arm's length terms for Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangements established by self managed superannuation funds (Guideline) sets out further guidance as to how existing non-commercial limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA) loans from related parties to self managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) can be put on commercial terms by 30 June 2016. If such loans are on commercial terms by that date and with effect for the 2015/16 year then the ATO will accept that such loans are on commercial terms and that they will not trigger the application of the non-arm’s length income (NALI) rules. The ATO has said that it will not select an SMSF for a review purely on the basis that it had a loan on a non-commercial basis for previous years.
The ATO has released Practical Compliance Guidelines PCG 2016/5 Income tax - arm's length terms for Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangements established by self managed superannuation funds (Guideline) which sets out 2 safe harbours for limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA) loans from related parties to self managed superannuation funds (SMSFs). If such loans comply with the terms of the safe harbours then the ATO will accept that such loans are on commercial terms and that they will not trigger the application of the non-arm’s length income (NALI) rules.
In a recent decision the New South Wales Supreme Court held that although the subject land had been purchased for future residential development, during the years relevant to the disputed Land Tax assessments, the dominant use of the land related to cattle-grazing operations under an agistment agreement. The taxpayer property developer was therefore eligible to apply the exemption applicable to land used in primary production in s 10AA(2) of the Land Tax Management Act 1956 (NSW).
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has released key super contribution caps, rates and thresholds for the 2016/17 year. These include:
The draft legislation of the Government’s proposed new tax system for managed investment trusts proposes that super funds (and other exempt entities that are entitled to a refund of excess imputation credits) be excluded from the 20% tracing rule for the public trading trust rules.
The Federal Court has handed down another civil penalty decision for breaches by self managed superannuation fund (SMSF) trustees of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SIS Act).
In the case of the Deputy Commissioner of Taxation (Superannuation) v Ryan [2015] FCA 1037 the Federal Court fined the two trustees of an SMSF $20,000 each for breaching the sole purpose test, the prohibition against providing members with financial assistance, the in-house asset rules and the requirement to make investments on an arm’s length basis. This was as a result of the SMSF lending to the members over $200,000. Most of these loans were never paid back to the SMSF ultimately leaving the SMSF with about $6,000 in assets. In addition, the members were disqualified as trustees.
The income tax look-through treatment for limited recourse borrowing arrangements (LRBAs) is now law with the Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2015 Measures No 2) Act 2015 receiving royal assent on 16 September 2015. This means that, effective from 1 July 2007, a super fund under a LRBA will generally be treated as the owner of an asset bought under the arrangement for income tax purposes (including for capital gains tax purposes). This includes that the bare trust under an LRBA does not need a tax file number and does not need to lodge a tax return.
The Productivity Commission will shortly commence a 12 month wholesale review of Australia’s intellectual property regime. The Government has recognised that with a rapidly changing global economy and new technologies, there is a need to ensure that there is an appropriate balance between intellectual property protection and competition. The review was recommended in the extensive Harper Report on Competition Policy, which noted that excessive intellectual property protection can ‘not only discourage adoption of new technologies but also stifle innovation’.
For some time now, the Productivity Commission (Commission) has been undertaking a public inquiry to examine the performance of the workplace relations framework in Australia and to identify improvements to it.
Today, the Commission released its hotly anticipated draft inquiry report. The report outlines the key issues identified so far during the inquiry, discusses some of the draft recommendations and findings, and outlines how stakeholders will be able to provide feedback.
The Government has released the Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2015 Measures No. 2) Bill 2015 which, if passed in its current form, will provide for “look through” tax treatment for trusts set up for limited recourse borrowing arrangements (LRBA).
In effect, this means that, from a tax law perspective (except for certain limited exceptions), the asset of the LRBA trust will be deemed to be held by the super fund and the actions of the trustee of the LRBA trust in relation to the asset will be deemed to be the actions of the trustee of the super fund. This will reduce adverse tax consequences (eg capital gains tax on collapsing the trust, losses being trapped in the trust and difficulties of passing franking credits) and result in a reduction to tax administration (eg the trust will not require a TFN or be required to prepare a tax return). It also means that, from a tax law perspective, super funds no longer need a bare trust for a LRBA in order to achieve a look through approach.
