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.

With the next Federal Election expected in May, there are currently several pending bills in the Parliament introduced by the Coalition Government (Coalition).

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.

In this election year, the focus of the Budget was the emphasis on the Budget surplus, cash payments to, and tax cuts for, low to medium income earners, and increasing investment in infrastructure.

The Government has withdrawn a measure to increase the maximum number of people who can be members of self managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) from 4 to 6.

There’s not a lot to report on for superannuation in the 2019 Federal budget [cue relief].

 We reported on the Full Federal Court decision of Satyam Computer Services Limited v CoT (2018) [2018] FCAFC 172 (Satyam) here.

Previously we reported here and here, legislation was introduced to the Parliament in October 2017 (then dropped) and again in February 2018 regarding proposed changes to the CGT main residence exemption as that exemption applies to foreign residents.