Legal news
In in an unheralded move, the Victorian government has extended the land tax exemption for primary production land in an urban zone (contained in section 67 of the Land Tax Act 2005) to include land owned by a trustee of a super fund of which all the members or beneficiaries are relatives and at least one of those members or beneficiaries is normally engaged in a substantially full-time capacity in the business of primary production of the type carried on on the land.
The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) recently held in FLZY and Commissioner of Taxation that profit arising from the sale of a building by a family trust gave rise to a capital gain despite the property building, development and investment activities undertaken by the privately held family group (Group).
The ATO has recently released guidelines on its administrative treatment for the application of certain tax issues when interests in ‘no goodwill’ professional partnerships, trusts and incorporated practices (practices) are acquired or disposed.
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).
On February 26, 2016, the Australian Financial Review named Sladen Legal Principal, Daniel Smedley as one of Australia's Best Lawyers of the Year in the taxation practice area.
The list is compiled by United States peer-review company Best Lawyers from close to 700,000 evaluations, and 2,870 lawyers were chosen from more than 280 law firms nationwide.
In Miley and Commissioner of Taxation, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) held that, for the purposes of the maximum net asset value (MNAV) test in s 152-15 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, the market value of the taxpayer’s shares was not his share of the sales proceeds ($5.9 million), but the actual market value of his shareholding in the company just before the share sale.
On 15 February 2016 the Federal Treasury released a consultation paper on new tax incentives for early stage investors, which is part of the National Innovation and Science Agenda (NISA) announced by the Government on 07 December 2015.
The Treasury has indicated that the new tax incentives for start-ups will provide investors with:
The Tax Laws Amendment Bill (Small Business Restructure Roll–Over) Bill 2016 (Cth) (the Bill) was introduced to Parliament on 4 February 2016.
The Bill amends the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 97) to allow small businesses to defer the recognition of gains and losses arising from the transfer of active business assets as part of a genuine restructure of their ongoing business that occurs on or after 1 July 2016.
The Bill extends capital gains tax roll-over relief to transfers to and from a range of different entity types, including transfers of assets from a company to a sole trader, partnership or trust. The small business roll-over (the Roll-Over) is in addition to current roll-over relief available for individual sole traders, partnerships and trusts that convert to a company structure (Division 122 and Subdivision 124-N ITAA 97).
Sladen Legal is pleased to announce that the 2016 version of the Trust Structures Guide (written by Sladen Legal and published by The Tax Institute) is now available.
The Trust Structures Guide has long been considered to be invaluable guide for professionals advising on structuring and tax matters relating to trusts.
In December 2015, an article written by Sladen Legal's Sam Campbell was published in the Tax Institute’s Journal, Taxation in Australia.
The article discusses the tax issues raised when creating and dealing with unpaid present entitlements by trusts, including CGT issues, which should always be carefully considered before embarking on a proposed transaction.
The recent release of the Federal Government’s National Innovation and Science Agenda outlines key measures to promote and support the growth of innovation and entrepreneurial ventures in Australia.
The Full Court of the Federal Court has dismissed the taxpayer’s appeal in Breakwell v Commissioner of Taxation [2015] FCA 1471 and confirmed the earlier Administrative Appeals Tribunal decision to include an allegedly statute-barred loan of $1.1m in the calculation of the taxpayer’s net assets for the maximum net asset value (MNAV) test when determining the taxpayer’s eligibility for small business CGT concessions.
The taxpayer was the beneficiary and trustee of a family trust (ABFT), which was in turn the beneficiary of a unit trust (ETUT). In July 2007 the ETUT sold its finance broking business for $500,000. In its 2008 income tax return, the ETUT excluded the capital gain from the sale of the business by applying the small business CGT concessions.
An exposure draft and explanatory statement have been released for public comment with proposed amendments to the Private Ancillary Fund Guidelines 2009 and the Public Ancillary Fund Guidelines 2011.
The Private Ancillary Fund and Public Ancillary Fund Amendment Guidelines 2015 (amending guidelines) include a number of amendments, including to update the Private Ancillary Fund Guidelines 2009 to incorporate improvements in the later made Public Ancillary Fund Guidelines 2011, and to reflect the introduction of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC).
On 22 October 2015, Rob Jeremiah delivered a presentation at the ‘Taxation Aspects of Estate Planning and Business Succession – The First Annual Symposium’ held in Melbourne by Television Education Network.
At this event, Rob presented a paper called ‘CGT Hotspots in Restructuring Trusts in Estate Planning,’ written by Sam Campbell, Will Monotti, Ashleigh Eynaud and himself.
The Full Federal Court dismissed the Commissioner’s appeal in Commissioner of Taxation v Devuba Pty Ltd [2015] FCAFC 168, confirming the earlier Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) decision that the existence of a dividend access share (DAS) arrangement did not affect the taxpayer’s ability to apply the capital gains tax (CGT) small business concessions to a capital gain arising from the disposal of ordinary shares in the applicant company.
The primary issue considered in that case was whether the existence of the DAS caused the taxpayer to fail to meet the small business participation percentage (SBPP) of 90%.
In September 2015, Part 2 of a 2 part series written by Sladen Legal's Renuka Somers and Ashleigh Eynaud was published in the Tax Institute’s Journal, Taxation in Australia.
It discusses draft Taxation Ruling TR 2015/D2 and the Australian Taxation Office’s proposed treatment of trust unpaid present entitlements for the purposes of the maximum net asset value test applicable to the capital gains tax small business concessions.
In August 2015, Part 1 of a 2 part series written by Sladen Legal's Renuka Somers and Ashleigh Eynaud was published in the Tax Institute’s Journal, Taxation in Australia.
It discusses some of the unresolved issues and complexities associated with the taxation treatment of trust unpaid present entitlements for Division 7A purposes and bad debt write-offs, despite the Australian Taxation Office’s attempts to address these matters in draft Taxation Determinations TD 2015/D4 and TD 2015/D5.
The Federal Treasury has released the Exposure Draft for the Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2015 Measures No. 6) Bill 2015: Small business restructure rollovers to amend the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 to allow small businesses to defer gains and losses arising from the transfer of capital gains tax assets, depreciating assets, trading stock and revenue assets between entities as part of a restructure.
The proposed amendments attempt to provide greater flexibility for small businesses to change the legal structure through which they operate without triggering adverse taxation consequences.
On 28 October, 2015 Sladen Legal delivered a presentation on various topics in the area of Hot Issues in Structuring and Rewarding Employees.
Topics presented were:
