Sladen Snippet - Commissioner is under no duty to issue amended land tax assessments

Sladen Snippet - Commissioner is under no duty to issue amended land tax assessments

The High Court of Australia has recently allowed an appeal against a decision of the Victoria Court of Appeal and held that the Commissioner was not under a duty to issue amended assessments and refund an excess amount of land tax that has erroneously been paid by a taxpayer.

Partner is denied access to partnership’s carried forward tax losses

Partner is denied access to partnership’s carried forward tax losses

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) has recently held that tax losses were not available to a partner in a property development partnership.

Sladen Snippet - New rules for clearly distinguishable advertising

Sladen Snippet - New rules for clearly distinguishable advertising

In the digital age, brands are increasingly making use of innovative marketing and advertising such as native or integrated advertising, social media accounts, bloggers and Instagram influencers. These strategies have been shown to increase audience engagement and brand awareness, and are an effective use of a marketing budget. 

Sladen Snippet - Intangible assets and improvements to pre-CGT assets

Sladen Snippet - Intangible assets and improvements to pre-CGT assets

On 25 January 2017, the Commissioner of Taxation (Commissioner) released Taxation Determination, TD 2017/1 (Determination) concerning whether intangible capital improvements made to a pre-CGT asset can be a separate asset for the purpose of subsections 108-70(2) or (3) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.

Sladen Snippet - do super fund deeds and pension documents need to be updated pre 1 July 2017?

Sladen Snippet  - do super fund deeds and pension documents need to be updated pre 1 July 2017?

With the new super laws commencing from 1 July 2017, advisors and trustees of self managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) are starting to consider whether they need to update their SMSF trust deed or their pension documents.

Real life examples of problematic variation clauses

Real life examples of problematic variation clauses

In September 2016, an article written by Sladen Legal's Phil Broderick, Will Monotti and Ashleigh Eynaud was published in the Tax Institute’s Journal, Taxation in Australia.

This article addresses how trust deed variation clauses vary from trust to trust and gives examples of some of the problematic ones we’ve seen.

Sladen Snippet – ATO releases FAQs on the LRBA safe harbour rules

Sladen Snippet – ATO releases FAQs on the LRBA safe harbour rules

The ATO has released answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the ATO’s safe harbour rules for related party limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA) loans to super funds. The safe harbour rules are contained in PCG 2016/5 and have been discussed in a previous snippet. 

New super laws – the death of transition to retirement income streams?

New super laws – the death of transition to retirement income streams?

There seems to be some confusion about the fate of transition to retirement income streams (TRIS). TRISs will not be abolished from 1 July 2017. Rather, they will no longer qualify for “pension phase” (or retirement phase under the new terminology). 

Income from incidental activity is part of entity’s annual turnover and might bar CGT concessions

Income from incidental activity is part of entity’s annual turnover and might bar CGT concessions

The Federal Court of Australia denied the application of the CGT small business concession on the basis that an unusual activity carried on by an associated entity to the taxpayer contributed to the aggregated annual turnover of that entity to be more than $2,000,000.

Sladen Snippet - ATO releases discussion paper on new GST rules for digital supplies

Sladen Snippet - ATO releases discussion paper on new GST rules for digital supplies

On 06 December 2016, the Commissioner of Taxation issued the Discussion Paper TDP 2016/1 on issues concerning electronic distribution platforms (EDPs). The discussion paper seeks feedback in relation to the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) rules for digital suppliers and services affecting EDPs from 1 July 2017.

New super laws – the transfer balance cap

New super laws – the transfer balance cap

The transfer balance cap is the new limit on how much a member can have in their pension account and accordingly is a limit on how much a super fund can have in “pension phase”. Income and capital gains are tax free to the extent they are in pension phase. To the extent that a super fund is in “accumulation phase” its income is taxed at 15% and capital gains, on assets held for more than 12 months, are taxed at 10%. 

Sladen Snippet - Changes to the Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) Rebate eligibility criteria and cap reduction

Sladen Snippet - Changes to the Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) Rebate eligibility criteria and cap reduction

In light of the 2016-17 Federal Budget handed down earlier this year, followed by consultation with participants in the wine industry, the Turnbull Government has announced on 02 December 2016 reforms to the WET Rebate. The purpose of these reforms, as stated by Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Small Business, Kelly O’Dwyer is to address “distortions in the market through the misuse and exploitation of the WET Rebate scheme”.

New super laws – non-concessional contributions cap

New super laws – non-concessional contributions cap

The headline items to this measure is that the non-concessional contributions cap will be reduced from $180K to $100K, the “bring forward rule” will be reduced from $540K to $300K and that members with account balances over $1.6 million will not be able to make non-concessional contributions. But like most of the new measures there are additional complexities to the new non-concessional cap measures.