Taxation in Australia

Articles from the current issue:

• Investing in the future

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  The Tax Institute continues to call on the government to improve Australia’s tax system so that it is simpler, fairer and more transparent.

• Retrospectivity and tax law

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  A recent decision of the NSW Court of Appeal considers whether a disclaimer by a beneficiary could operate retrospectively for payroll tax purposes.

• A review into the future of the tax profession

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  The Tax Institute continues to be the linchpin of the tax community, enabling tax professionals to share their knowledge and thought leadership with each other.

• Member profile: Rosemary Campbell

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  This member profile covers Rosemary Campbell.

• Caratti and the deceased estate

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  Does the principal residence exemption from Western Australian land tax continue to apply to the deceased’s principal residence after the deceased’s death?

• Managing family and beneficiary disputes

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  Acting for and advising an executor or trustee may involve consideration of competing interests of various family members and beneficiaries of the estate or trust. The client, of course, is the executor or trustee and the adviser’s duty is to advise that client and to look after that client’s best interests. The executor or trustee, however, will often have competing interests and obligations to various family members and beneficiaries. Providing the executor or trustee with the best advice to deal with those competing interests and obligations necessarily involves providing advice which may or may not be desired advice from the beneficiary’s perspective. This will often, in turn, lead to dispute and conflict. This article identifies where those areas of dispute and conflict are likely to arise and how the adviser may best manage such issues for the benefit of the client.

• Taxing earnings – the great distortion

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  Personal income tax rates of 45% are readily accepted but a corporate tax rate of 30% must be lowered! Is this sensible policy?

• August – what happened in tax?

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  The following points highlight important federal tax developments that occurred during August 2017.

• The expanding offshore client

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  Australia’s tax system contains complex rules for Australian entities that wish to expand offshore. The rules can be a minefield and often present difficulties for tax advisers, particularly where they involve applying Australian tax concepts in foreign jurisdictions. This article is intended to provide an overview of the different rules that can apply to Australian entities expanding offshore. While the focus of the article is on offshore investments via a corporate entity, specific issues regarding investments through non-resident trusts are also discussed. The article opens with discussion of basic concepts, including residency and types of entity. The article then discusses in detail what is involved in expanding offshore through a corporate entity, including discussion of the CFC rules. The article concludes with a briefer examination of expansion offshore through a trust.

• Outbound investment tax issues

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  With the increasing prevalence of outbound investment from Australia, taxpayers should understand current tax developments impacting foreign investment.

• Strengthening knowledge and advisory skills

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  The 2017 SP1 dux of ATL009 Corporate Tax shares her learning experience and how it relates to her day-to-day work.

• Discretionary trusts reform: let’s restart the conversation

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  The Labor policy proposal begs the question: should we continue to tinker at the edges or restart the stalled reforms to the modernisation of trust taxation?

• Judged by your deeds

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  The central document which constitutes a trust is the trust deed. This article considers the trust deed, the essential machinery that needs to be considered by advisers in addressing commercial and tax law issues associated with trust structures. The article reviews some challenging but relatively typical issues that the author has addressed in advising on trust structures, including recent developments. The article begins with a discussion of trust law issues, including the power of amendment, trustee powers, trustee indemnity, and the rule against perpetuities. The article then considers essential and desirable provisions in the discretionary trust, including provisions for income and capital distributions and distributions of unrealised gains. Typical provisions in a unit trust deed are then considered. Governance issues for discretionary trusts are discussed. Capital distributions and unit redemptions from unit trusts are considered. The article concludes with discussion of some significant distribution issues.

• The new age TRIS – tips and traps

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  While a TRIS can enter retirement (exempt) phase, the ATO does not accept that a TRIS can convert to an ABP.