Determination of residency in Australian taxation law is a complex collection of four separate tests any one of which may deem a person to be a tax resident. A recent decision of the Federal Court1 will not only surprise but concern many tax professionals; particularly comments on Taxation Office Checklists[…]
In the 2015-16 South Australian State Budget stamp duty was abolished on non-real property transfers executed on or after 18 June 2015. As a result, only transfers of real property or interests in real property or potentially of interests in entities which hold real property are subject to duty in[…]
On 9 December 2017, amendments to the Marriage Act 1961 commenced to redefine marriage as the ‘union of 2 people to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life’. There are many couples celebrating these amendments which became effective at midnight on 8 December 2017. However, for those[…]
It is usually assumed that if you bought a piece of land before 20 September 1985 it will be a pre Capital Gains Tax (‘CGT’) asset. However, this is not always the case, Division 149 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth) can displace the operation of the usual[…]
If the Budget Measures Bill 2017 is passed as announced by the South Australian Parliament this afternoon the state will join many others in imposing a Stamp Duty surcharge on foreign purchasers of residential property. A foreign individual, company or trustee that acquires a residential property in South Australia will[…]
One of the less widely debated parts of this week’s federal budget are changes to the legislation which came into effect from 1 July 2016 to increase the rate and widen the scope of the Foreign Resident Withholding Tax. This legislation originally required a payment of 10% of the purchase[…]
On 22 March 2017 McKerracher J of the Federal court handed down his decision in Sandini Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Taxation. The Court declared that a transfer of shares from the trustee of a trust controlled by one partner in a marriage breakdown to the trustee of a trust[…]
Budget announcements on 3 May this year presaged a plethora of changes to the Australian superannuation system more significant than any since May 2006. Five months later we have an Exposure Draft of the proposed legislation. These changes are some of the most complex yet. They introduce a whole range[…]
A Special Disability Trust is defined in the same way under both Federal and State taxation legislation. The definition is that in the Social Security Act 1991 (Cth) section 1209L and the Veterans Entitlement Act 1991 (Cth) section 52ZZZW. Both definitions rely upon the disabled individual meeting the definition of[…]
A mutual will agreement is an arrangement where two people each agree to bequeath property in a certain way conditional upon the other person bequeathing property in a similar or complementary fashion. This type of arrangement may be used in second relationships where each partner leaves his or her estate[…]