In the recent decision of R -v- T [2020] WASCA 109, the Western Australia (WA) Court of Appeal has upheld interim property orders of the WA Family Court to set aside contributions made by a de facto husband to an SMSF.

In our earlier article, we noted the Federal Court in FCT v Eichmann [2019] FCA 2155 (Eichman) in late 2019 had found in favour of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) (appealing a decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal) and held land used for storage was not an active asset for the purposes of the small business capital gains tax (CGT) concessions in Division 152 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997).

As the impact of COVID-19 continues to be felt across Australia, federal and state governments continue to take measures to stimulate the economy and provide financial assistance to taxpayers.

Most Victorian farmers who are using Victorian land solely or primarily for primary production purposes are aware of the primary production land tax exemptions under section 65, 66 or 67 (Primary Production Land Exemptions) of the Land Tax Act 2005 (the Act).

As referred to in our previous articles, the State Revenue Legislation Further Amendment Bill 2020 (NSW) has now received royal assent on 24 June 2020.

It has become common practice to make family trust and interposed entity elections to deal with carry forward losses and franked distributions without considering the impact on the future of the group.

The Victorian Court of Appeal’s decision in MD Commercial Pty Ltd v Commissioner of State Revenue [2019] VSCA 295 was a culmination of the battle between the Victorian Commissioner of State Revenue and the taxpayers’ statutory interpretation of a duty exemption contained in s 35 of the Duties Act 2000 (Vic) (Act) and whether the trustee had to be in a “bare trustee” relationship with no active powers being held by the trustee.

On 26 June 2020, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) announced a streamlined process for COVID-19 affected borrowers to make applications under section 109RD to extend the time to make minimum yearly repayments (normally required to be made by 30 June 2020) under Division 7A.

If a member calls for a super benefit before they die but pass away before it is paid, when it is subsequently paid to the deceased member’s account, is the payment a (tax free) member benefit or a (taxable) death benefit?

The case of the pirated blueberries: the value of registration as an anchor for protecting Plant Breeder’s Rights

When varying a trust deed, careful regard must be directed to the provisions of the deed as a whole, and the potential tax issues which can arise.

As part of the broader framework of the JobKeeper scheme (discussed here) established by the Coronavirus Economic Response Package (Payments and Benefits) Rules 2020, the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Amendment (Jobkeeper Payment) Regulations 2020 (Amending Regulations) have now been made.

The recent Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) decision of Holman v FCT highlights once again the importance of documentation and maintaining objective factual evidence to discharge the statutory burden of proof when disputing an assessment.

A hot topic for SMSF trustees during the COVID-19 crises is whether SMSF trustees that hold land can offer rent relief to their tenants, in particular to related tenants, without breaching the superannuation laws.

Beneficiaries of a unit trust may only claim franking credits if they are a “qualified person” in relation to the franked dividend. In order to be a qualified person the taxpayer must satisfy both the related payments rule and the holding period rule.

As previously discussed here, the ATO has now finalized the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) In-house Asset Determination — Intermediary Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangement Determination 2020 (Determination).

As part of the 2019-20 Budget and as previous discussed here, the Australian Government announced that Australians over age 65 would have greater flexibility in making voluntary concessional and non-concessional superannuation contributions from 1 July 2020.

Whether you are a creative about to enter into a book deal or an editor looking to commission, acquire or licence an existing literary work for publication, an understanding of copyright is essential.

JobKeeper is not just a financial subsidy for qualifying employers. We previously wrote about the extraordinary powers that employers help get them to the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic (or at least until September when the JobKeeper scheme is scheduled to end).

Annat v Commissioner of State Revenue [2020] VSC 108 (Annat) highlights the real risk faced by some farm owners in qualifying for a primary production land tax exemption .

Due to the Victorian State Revenue Office’s approach and scrutiny on primary production lands of late, traditional farming land owners are finding that they now must understand the difficult legislative requirements surrounding primary production land tax exemptions, the resulting structuring and record keeping requirements to ensure that they are not unintentionally exposing themselves to large land tax liabilities.