As part of administering the new transfer balance cap measure, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is currently developing a new self managed superannuation fund (SMSF) event based reporting regime. This regime is likely to be in the form of a report to be called the Transfer Balance Account Report or TBAR. At this stage, the reporting regime is expected to be as follows:

There is some good news and some bad news with the ATO’s release of Practical Compliance Guide PCG 2017/6. The good news is that spouses in receipt of death benefit pensions may commute their death benefit pensions in excess of the transfer balance cap back into accumulation before 1 July 2017. The bad news is that this concession does not apply to non-spouses and won’t apply after 30 June 2017.

It was announced as part of the 2017 Federal Budget that from 1 July 2018, purchasers of “newly constructed residential premises” or “new land subdivisions” will be required to remit GST directly to the Australian Taxation Office as part of settlement. Details have not yet been provided on how this measure will be implemented or operate.

In the landmark decision of Fair Work Ombudsman v Blue Impression Pty Ltd & Ors [2017] FCCA 810, the Federal Circuit Court has found that Melbourne accounting firm, Ezy Accounting 123 Pty Ltd (Ezy Accounting), was knowingly involved and accessorially liable for its client’s failure to pay its employees award rates of pay.

In a welcome move, the ATO has announced that it will extend the lodgement date for 2015/16 SMSF annual tax returns to 30 June 2017

The Victorian government has announced in its 2017 budget that it plans to abolish, from 1 July 2017, the spouse to spouse duty exemption, unless it is a transfer of a principal place of residence or a transfer as a result of a relationship breakdown.

Well maybe not no news, but it will certainly be a relief to the super industry that the 2017 Federal Budget has largely left super untouched.

In April 2017, Sladen Legal’s Phil Broderick presented - Super reforms: What you need to do before 30 June 2017 for the Television Education Network.

In March 2017, Sladen Legal’s Phil Broderick presented - An overview of the super reforms – for the Television Education Network.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has released Practical Compliance Guideline PCG 2017/5 which gives guidance as to how trustees of self managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) can commute pensions by 30 June 2017 in order to comply with the new transfer balance cap measure.

As a result of the commencement of the new super laws on 1 July 2017, Sladen Legal has prepared a number of document packages.

On 28 February 2017, Sladen Legal’s Phil Broderick, Melissa Colaluca and Rob Jeremiah gave presentations on the new super laws.

In February 2017, Phil Broderick of Sladen legal article was published “Units trusts and cost base resets under the TBC” in the Tax Institute’s Journal, Taxation in Australia.

In January 2017 “Deemed to be a “fixed trust” – draft guidelines” written by Sladen Legal's Daniel Smedley and Patricia Martins was published in the Tax Institute’s Journal, Taxation in Australia.

In November 2016, "Are foreign trusts the new black?” written by Sladen Legal’s Phil Broderick was published in The Tax Institute Journal, Taxation in Australia.

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Enterprise Tax Plan) Bill 2016 was recently passed by the Senate containing amendments to progressively reduce the corporate tax rate and increase the small business turnover thresholds for access to small business tax concessions. 

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.

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

On 8 March 2017, the Government released its latest consultation paper on the foreign investment framework. 

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.