Our international tax series discusses tax issues relating to non-resident beneficiaries of Australian trusts and resident beneficiaries of foreign trusts.

The Fair Work Commission’s Expert Panel has handed down its annual wage review ruling granting a 3% wage increase to the national minimum wage and all modern award minimum wages.

The 2019 Victorian budget contained a sleeper in the form of the amendments to the Victorian economic entitlement provisions.

When involved in a dispute with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), it is always in a clients’ best interest to seek to either resolve or narrow and define the relevant issues in dispute as quickly and efficiently as possible. 

The Victorian 2019/20 State Budget was announced yesterday, with positive wins for Regional Victoria. The proposed measures contain an increase in taxes for foreigners holding property in Victoria, as well as measures broadening the application of land transfer (stamp) duty.

Initially, the ‘land-rich’ regime was introduced as an anti-avoidance measure as acquisitions in companies or unit trusts with lands were formerly not subject to duty.

Landholder duty is a regime that was introduced to impose duty on acquisitions in landholding entities.

When involved in a dispute with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), it is always in a clients’ best interest to seek to either resolve or narrow and define the relevant issues in dispute as quickly and efficiently as possible.  We will always advise a client to seek to engage with the ATO to resolve a tax dispute, when possible.

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.

Discretionary trusts are prevalent in the small to medium enterprise (SME) market due to their income tax effectiveness, distribution flexibility, and asset protection features. However, this may be about to change. The Australian Labor Party (ALP) has proposed a number of amendments to existing tax laws should they win the election on 18 May 2019.

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

As reported in our earlier article [link] on Paule v FCT, the Federal Court held that the capital gains tax (CGT) discount did not apply to the sale of shares held by a trust. As expected, the taxpayer has now lodged an appeal to the Full Federal Court.  

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 Federal Commissioner of Taxation (Commissioner) has given notice that the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will commence a data matching program on cryptocurrency.

In Watson as trustee for the Murrindindi Bushfire Class Active Settlement Fund v Commissioner of Taxation [2019] FCA 228 (Watson), the Federal Court ruled that an investment trust established to hold funds received as compensation for victims of the black Saturday bush fires could not deduct administrative expenses associated with the trust’s operation.  

We previously reported here and here on the Full Federal Court decision of Pintarich v Deputy Commissioner of Taxation [2018] FCAFC 79 (Pintarich) and the unsuccessful application for special leave to the High Court.

The Federal Commissioner of Taxation (Commissioner) has issued Taxation Ruling TR 2019/1 (Ruling) which addresses when a company carries on a business within the meaning of:

The Commissioner of Federal Taxation has expressed his preliminary views, in Tax Determination TD 2019/D4, that a company, which

The Federal Court has ruled, in a decision that the Court itself described as an “unpalatable result”, that the capital gains tax (CGT) discount did not apply to the sale of shares held by a trust.