As previously reporting here, the Government recently resurrected measures to deny the capital gains tax (CGT) main residence exemption to foreign tax residents.

When in a dispute with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), attention needs to be given on how to respond to, and engage with, the ATO during a review or audit.

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.

On 16 October 2019, the High Court handed down its decision in FCT v Sharpcan Pty Ltd unanimously allowing the Commissioner of Taxation’s (Commissioner) appeal from the Full Federal Court’s decision.

Our international tax series considers tax issues for non-resident beneficiaries of Australian trusts and Australian beneficiaries of non-resident trusts.

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

As we enter the Halloween season, zombies and other ghoulish creatures are no doubt at the forefront of people’s minds.

The Full Federal Court in Hart v FCT affirmed the Federal Court’s decision in Paule v FCT that the capital gains tax (CGT) discount did not apply to the sale of shares owned by a trust.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) recently released Taxation Determinations TD 2019/D6 and TD 2019/D7 (together the Determinations) that concern Australian discretionary trusts distributing capital gains to foreign beneficiaries.

Members and trustees of self managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) will sometimes become estranged because of disputes involving their family or business relationships.

Primary producers in Melbourne will soon be faced with a greater likelihood of paying land tax on their farms due to the proposed reform, and narrowing, of the primary production land tax exemption as proposed in the State Taxation Acts Further Amendment Bill 2019.

Challenging death benefit payments from superannuation funds has followed four broad categories over the years. Interestingly, they have developed in relatively discrete time periods.

On 6 February 2019, and as previously reported here, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) withdrew its longstanding public guidance that a company could forgive a debt for “natural love and affection” under the exception in the commercial debt forgiveness rules (CDF Rules) in Division 245. At that time, the ATO said it is developing guidance on the issue.

This article looks at what determines the tax residence of a trust and what the consequences can be from a change of tax residence.

Sladen Legal is delighted to welcome the team from Bernie O’Sullivan Lawyers who will be practicing under the Sladen Legal brand from today, 1 October.

On 24 September 2019, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) updated its guidance on “Assessing the risk: allocation of profits within professional firms”.

The Victorian Supreme Court’s decision in favour of the taxpayer has been overturned by the Victorian Court of Appeal. We have previously discussed the Victorian Supreme Court decision.

The government’s previously announced amnesty for unpaid superannuation guarantee payments, which lapsed will the calling of the previous election, has been reintroduced into parliament in the  in the Treasury Laws Amendment (Recovering Unpaid Superannuation) Bill 2019.

On 13 September 2019, the High Court refused the Commissioner of Taxation’s (Commissioner) application for special leave to appeal the Full Federal Court decision in Harding v Commissioner of Taxation (Harding).

When involved in a dispute with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), dealing with the interest and penalties that may be imposed by the ATO in relation to a tax liability by seeking remission of those amounts, objecting, or having a reasonably arguable position opinion can be an important part of any dispute resolution strategy.