The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) finalised Tax Determinations TD 2017/23 and TD 2017/24 on 13 December 2017. Released in draft in November 2016, the Determinations consider certain aspects of the interaction of the capital gains provisions and the trust assessing provisions in Division 6 as those provisions apply to foreign trusts. In particular, where a foreign trust makes a capital gain on assets that are not taxable Australian property (TAP) and distributes that gain to Australian beneficiaries.

In September 2017, an article written by Sladen Legal's Neil Brydges was published in the Tax Institute’s Journal, Taxation in Australia.

In Commissioner of Taxation v Miley, the Federal Court overturned decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) concerning the share valuation method for the purposes of the maximum net asset value (MNAV) test in s 152-15 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.

In the 2016-2017 Economic and Fiscal Outlook (http://www.budget.gov.au/2016-17/content/myefo/download/09-Appendix-A-Revenue.pdf), the Government announced that the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) would be allowed to report to credit reporting agencies the tax debt information of entities that don’t effectively engage with the ATO to manage those tax debts.

The recent case of  FCT v Hacon illustrates the practical difficulties in obtaining a private ruling that depends on assumptions about future events - in particular, in the context of the application of Part IVA.

As previously reported in June this year, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) published the Draft Taxation Determination TD 2017/D1 altering their previous published interpretation of the meaning of “distributes” for the purposes of the family trust distribution tax (FTDT).

The draft tax determination has now been published in its final form as TD 2017/20, confirming that FTDT can apply where there is a “distribution” to a person who is not a beneficiary of the trust.

Following an announcement in the 2017 Budget (see our article here), the Government on 6 November 2017 released exposure draft legislation which if enacted will, subject to a transitional rule (below), require from 1 July 2018 that purchasers of taxable supplies of new residential premises or new subdivisions of potential residential land pay 1/11 of the purchase price directly to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) at settlement. The 1/11 of the purchase price is irrespective of whether the margin scheme or otherwise applies to calculate the actual GST liability.

The ATO has released a media release confirming its final position on its new event based reporting regime to be known as the transfer balance account report or “TBAR”.

In the 2017 Budget on 9 May 2017, the Government announced a proposed change to the CGT main residence exemption as that exemption applies to foreign and temporary tax residents.  If enacted the announced change removed the CGT main residence exemption for foreign and temporary tax residents with effect from Budget night (9 May 2017). 

This month Phil Broderick of Sladen Legal presented at The Second Annual Property Taxation Symposium Television Education Network on New Issues with Owning Real Property in an SMSF.

On 23 October 2017, the Commissioner was granted special leave to appeal to the High Court against the Full Federal Court’s decision from earlier this year in Thomas v Commissioner of Taxation 2017 FCAFC 57.

On 19 September 2017, we considered the Exposure Draft legislation on eligibility for the lower company tax rate that was released on 18 September 2017.

In light of the recent Bill to clarify which companies are eligible for the lower corporate tax rate for small companies (27.5% in the 2017 and 2018 income years), it is worth taking stock on how the imputation system applies in the context of two-tiered corporate tax rates.  

The strength of the Commissioner of Taxation’s (Commissioner) hand in raising taxation assessments, and the difficulties taxpayers face in challenging a taxation assessment other than under Part IVC of the Taxation Administration Act 1953 (Administration Act) has again been illustrated in the Federal Court decision of Chhua v Commissioner of Taxation [2017] FCA 1127 (Chhua).

Partnering with our client Resi Ventures, Sladen Legal has rolled out e-Contracts for use in sales at the Accolade and Monument estates. The use of e-Contracts aligns with Resi Ventures’ goals of implementing fresh ideas and best practices in creating communities and the way it deals with its customers.

In the space of a fortnight, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has commenced two sets of proceedings in the Federal Court against large Australian businesses, claiming breaches of the unfair contract provisions applicable to standard form small business contracts contained in the Australian Consumer Law.

The concept of “present entitlement” within the meaning of section 97 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 and validity of a “disclaimer of entitlement of income” were considered by the Full Federal Court in the recent case of Lewski v Commissioner of Taxation [2017] FCAFC 145 (Lewski) that illustrates the importance of having trust law and taxation law concepts properly aligned. Lewski was an appeal from a decision of the Administrative Affairs Tribunal.

The Corporations Amendment (Crowd-sourced Funding for Proprietary Companies) Bill 2017 was introduced into Parliament on 14 September 2017.  If passed, as is expected, the Bill will extend the reach of the Crowd-sourced Equity Funding (CSEF) legislation that will at this stage apply only to public companies from 29 September 2017.

The recent Full Federal Court cases of Bazzo v FCT [2017] FCAFC 139 illustrates the importance of drafting in agreements and, in particular, agreements with revenue authorities.

Businesses exporting products around the world can now apply for the Export Market Development Grant (EMDG). Applications can be completed and submitted online up until 30 November 2017.