As reported recently by The Age and ABC News, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is targeting property investors particularly taxpayers who may have made mistakes, errors or false claims on their tax returns in relation to property owned for investment purposes.

This is Part 4 of a series of articles by our State Taxes Team on landholder duty and deconstructs the complex provisions by providing a snapshot on landholder duty and its application with regards to private entities.

It is the time of the year again. The Victorian State Revenue Office (SRO) is currently issuing land tax assessments for the 2019 land tax year.

In Parts 1-4 of this series, we discussed the landholder duty provisions, with a particular focus on Victorian landholder duty. In this part we continue to delve into the complex landholder provisions, with a focus on the principle of an acquisitions of economic entitlement.

This is Part 6 of a series of articles by our State Taxes Team on landholder duty and deconstructs the complex provisions by providing a snapshot on landholder duty and its application with regards to private entities.

In this paper I have firstly examined whether an SMSF can carry on a business.

This is Part 7 of a series of articles by our State Taxes Team on landholder duty and deconstructs the complex provisions by providing a snapshot on landholder duty and its application with regards to private entities.

The Full Federal Court has now handed down its decision in the residency case of Harding v COT [2019] FCAFC 29 (Harding), reversing the Federal Court’s decision at first instance, and finding in favour of Mr Harding. 

In Deputy Commissioner of Taxation v Pedley (No 2) (2018) FCA 2015 (Pedley), the Federal Court confirmed the wide discretion available to the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) to allocate payments made to it for tax debts especially where the taxpayer has not provided explicit direction as to what payments should be applied to which debts.

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) has determined that land, used to store tools and materials for the purposes of operating a business, constituted an “active asset” for the purposes of the small business capital gains tax (CGT) concessions.

The case of Re Marsella; Marsella v Wareham [2018] VSC 312 (13 June 2018) concerned a claim by the widower of the willmaker for further provision from the estate of the deceased pursuant to Part IV of the Administration and Probate Act 1958. 

What is “better” for paying out death benefits in a self managed superannuation fund (SMSF) - a binding death benefit nomination (BDBN) or trustee discretion? As a result of a number of cases, where BDBNs were found to be defective, trustee discretion was becoming a favoured method for some advisors.

On 6 February 2019, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) withdrew its long-standing Interpretative Decision 2003/589 that a company can forgive a debt owed by a natural person for reasons of “natural love and affection” and not trigger consequences under the commercial debt forgiveness rules.

The High Court in Commissioner of Taxation v Tomaras & Ors (2018) HCA 62 (Tomaras) has confirmed the Federal Circuit Court had jurisdiction to make orders altering the property interests of parties to a marriage substituting one party for the other party as sole debtor to the Commissioner of Taxation (Commissioner) in respect of income tax liabilities owed by the first party.

In a recent case of Nifuno Pty Ltd atf Stephen Forbes Pension Fund v Chief Commissioner of State Revenue [2019] NSWCATOD 3, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) considered the application of an available duty concession for the transfer of property in connection with persons changing superannuation funds, including self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs).

A technical defect in the operation of reversionary transition to retirement income streams (TRIS) has been fixed by the passing of the Treasury Laws Amendment (2018 Measures No. 4) Bill 2018.

Treasury Laws Amendment (2018 Measures No. 4) Bill 2018 has now passed both houses of parliament. The Bill includes the following measures to increase the ability of the ATO to enforce the super guarantee laws.

A Federal Election is anticipated in the first half of this year. If current opinion polls are to be believed there is a real possibility that the Government will change, which is likely to result in industrial relations reform. 

This article provides an overview of the Commissioner’s long-awaited preliminary views on trust splitting provided in TD 2018/D3.

In modern trust structures and in the rapidly changing technological landscape, the ability of trustees to perform their fiduciary duties is being tested.