The High Court has dismissed an appeal by Godolphin Australia Pty Ltd (Godolphin) and confirmed that it cannot claim the primary production land tax exemption, as it was unable to show that the “dominant use” of its properties was for primary production where it also had substantial horseracing activities.  The decision illustrates the issues that can arise when primary production land is used as part of business models that include other interrelated activities.

In a major backdown, the Victorian State Government has agreed to reduce some of the impact of the recent policy shifts towards taxing general practitioners as employees for payroll tax purposes.

In the current economic landscape, business owners may be considering a restructure, merger, or demerger to adapt, survive, or enable growth. A change in the structure of a business typically involves either the transfer of ownership interests in the entire business or of specific assets of the business.

1. The High Court has described the trust as a “…creature of equity…” subject to the jurisdiction of a court of equity. The essential feature of every trust is that one person is an owner of property, but is bound to use their position as owner for the benefit of another or for the advancement of a purpose.

If you are selling an asset to a trust, don’t forget about CGT event E2…

The new Commercial and Industrial Property Tax reform that progressively abolishes stamp duty on commercial and industrial property from 1 July 2024 is one of the most significant Victorian property tax reforms in the past 30 years.  Anyone looking to buy or sell commercial or industrial property will be impacted.

On 14 May 2024, the State Taxation Amendment Bill 2024 (Vic) (the Bill) was released after having its second reading speech in the Victorian Legislative Assembly.

As soon as the business or investment structure involves entities such as companies, it is inevitable that there will be intra-group loans arising from either:

This is the first article in a series that aims to demystify the application of the tax consolidation rules in Part 3-90 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 for private groups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

In 2022, the decision of the Federal Court in Minerva Financial Group Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Taxation [2022] FCA 1092 raised the question that tax benefits emanating from trustee decisions could be subject Part IVA. At that time, we said we think ‘no’ (see here).  

As we’ve noted previously, commercial and industrial properties sold or transferred on or from 1July 2024, will enter the new commercial and industrial property regime. Broadly, the regime will operate such that future transfers will not trigger land transfer (stamp) duty but rather the property will be subject to a (further) set of land tax, known as commercial and industrial property tax (CIPT).

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.

Sladen Legal, a leading Melbourne firm specialising in complex federal tax matters, is thrilled to announce the addition of highly acclaimed lawyer Kaitilin Lowdon as Special Counsel. 

On 17 January 2024, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) issued a revised draft taxation ruling, TR 2024/D1, which addresses the taxation implications of payments relating to software distribution arrangements.

Section 99B, the “sequel” to 2022’s s 100A focus, may make taxpayers and advisers wish they had a bigger boat.

The ATO has a new collaborative and tailored approach to managing the collection and recovery of disputed debts.

Sladen Legal has been recognised as a Third Tier Leading Tax Law Firm – Victoria, 2023 in the recently released Doyles Guide Victoria, 2023. Doyles Guide is a comprehensive and independent directory which showcases Australia’s best firms and lawyers.

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.

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?

The ATO has taken an aggressive approach on non-arm’s length income (NALI) for a number of years now, both in its public documents and via its audit teams. This has culminated in an approach that puts a high expectation on SMSF’s in relation to proving arrangements are on an arm’s length basis – in particular, in relation to benchmarking such arrangements.