On 26 June 2020, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) announced a streamlined process for COVID-19 affected borrowers to make applications under section 109RD to extend the time to make minimum yearly repayments (normally required to be made by 30 June 2020) under Division 7A.

When varying a trust deed, careful regard must be directed to the provisions of the deed as a whole, and the potential tax issues which can arise.

Beneficiaries of a unit trust may only claim franking credits if they are a “qualified person” in relation to the franked dividend. In order to be a qualified person the taxpayer must satisfy both the related payments rule and the holding period rule.

As part of its response to COVID-19, on 13 May 2020 the Australian Taxation Office announced that it has extended the time for lodgment of 2019 tax returns for certain companies and trusts and made changes to its administration of Division 7A of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) position for several years has been a foreign beneficiary distributed a capital gain made by an Australian discretionary trust on an asset that is not taxable Australian property is assessed on the capital gain even though that would not occur if the foreign resident made the gain directly, or through a fixed trust. Some commentators disagree with that view, the Federal Court in a recent case agreed with the ATO position in what may be the first skirmish of a battle through the courts on this issue.

The Court of Appeal handed down its decision in MD Commercial Pty Ltd v Commissioner of State Revenue [2019] VSCA 295 in late 2019. The decision has provided further clarity on the application of section 35 of the Duties Act 2000 (Vic) which provides an exemption from duty for transfers to bare trusts.

While consistent with recent ATO views, TD 2019/D6 and TD 2019/D7 provide minimal clarification on the taxation of Australian discretionary trusts distributing capital gains to foreign beneficiaries.

The State Revenue Office (SRO) have announced that its current “practical approach” in relation to whether trustees of discretionary trusts trigger the foreign duty surcharge will cease from 1 March 2020.

As outlined in our previous article, the State Revenue Further Amendment Bill 2019 (NSW) was introduced to NSW Legislative Assembly on Tuesday 22 October 2019, and proposed to make changes to New South Wales land tax and duty legislation.

Unfortunately, it is quite common for trust deeds to contain mistakes…

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) sought to address this question through a public determination (first issued in draft as TD 2018/D3) that considered a range of features of an arrangement, that when considered together, were deemed to have resulted in the creation of a new trust over assets formerly held by an original trust.

The Federal Government has introduced the Treasury Laws Amendment (2019 Measures No. 3) Bill 2019 (Bill), which seeks to ensure that tax concessions available to minors on income on distributions by the trustee of a testamentary trust will only apply in respect of income that is generated from assets of the deceased estate transferred to that testamentary trust (or the proceeds of the disposal or investment of those assets).

As outlined in our previous article, under the proposed changes to New South Wales land tax and duty legislation, a trustee of a discretionary trust (including testamentary trusts) will be deemed to be a “foreign trust” if the terms of the trust do not prevent a foreign person from being a beneficiary of the discretionary trust. Importantly, these changes are proposed to have retrospective effect to the 2017, 2018 and 2019 land tax years and can catch dutiable transactions back to 21 June 2016.

The State Revenue Legislation Further Amendment Bill 2019 was introduced to NSW Legislative Assembly on Tuesday 22 October 2019.

Sladen Legal have launched Sladen Learning, an online professional development platform delivering interactive, specialist courses to professionals Australia wide. Developed by the team of lawyers at Sladen Legal, Sladen Learning combines information, resources and activities to deliver engaging and educational short courses. 

As we approach 30 June, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) announced that it is reviewing adherence to trustee obligations including the lodgment of tax file number (TFN) reports for TFN withholding for closely held trusts.

Scott Morrison’s surprise victory that the polls, betting markets, and most commentators got wrong. One betting agency paid out bets on Labor ahead of the election.

Our international tax series discusses Commonwealth tax issues relating to non-resident beneficiaries or non-resident trustees of a trust.

This is the first article in a series relating to the Australian tax consequences for resident and non-resident beneficiaries of Australian and foreign trusts.

The Victorian Supreme Court in the decision of MD Commercial Pty Ltd & AJ Commercial Pty Ltd v Commissioner of State Revenue [2018] VSC 560 confirmed that certain transfers of land to trustees were not exempt from duty under section 35 of the Duties Act 2000.