Capital Gains Tax (CGT) event E4 will arise when a beneficiary receives a payment from a trustee of a trust in respect of the beneficiary’s unit or interest in that trust and either some, or all, of that payment is not included in the taxpayer’s assessable income.

An Australian Taxation Office (ATO) private binding ruling, and minutes from the National Tax Liaison Group, suggest that CGT event E4 will not arise when the payment of a non-assessable amount is made to an owner of discretionary units.

To what extent do directors of a corporate trustee owe duties to a corporate trustee, its shareholders and/or the beneficiaries of the trust?

This article examines a Federal Court case in which a director of a private company, acting as trustee of a private trust, was found to have breached his fiduciary duties to the company by entering into a series of transactions to effect superannuation contributions.