News
How did bucket companies become the go-to trust distribution tool?
2+ hour, 48+ min ago (100+ words) AFR It seems that every trust has a bucket company. We delve into what they are, how they are used and why the government seems intent on axing them. The bright red target on the use of so-called "bucket companies…...
Labor's raid on trusts hits much deeper than just tax
8+ hour, 38+ min ago (144+ words) AFR Advisers warn that Labor's three-year rollover window on trusts is an Orwellian trap designed to strip investors of main reason to have one: asset protection. Chester Osborn, whose family runs the d'Arenberg winery in Mc Laren Vale, says his…...
ATO v Bendel case ends in High Court ruling against tax office on trust profit distributions
2+ day, 2+ hour ago (83+ words) Accountant Steven Bendel wins landmark case against the ATO AFR Suburban account Steven Bendel has won a landmark High Court victory over the Australian Tax Office, with judges ruling on Wednesday that an unpaid trust entitlement is not a loan…...
Religious leaders warn Albanese about $3b tax hit to trusts
6+ day, 8+ hour ago (93+ words) AFR New intelligent search Use sentences or keywords Some of Australia's most senior religious leaders have joined forces to warn the Albanese government that its planned 30 per cent minimum taxes on trusts and capital gains will wipe out a potential…...
Labor's 30pc tax on capital gains and trusts deals a blow to charities
1+ week, 43+ min ago (93+ words) AFR New intelligent search Use sentences or keywords The Albanese government's planned minimum 30 per cent tax on capital gains and discretionary trusts is set to slash donations to tens of thousands of charities and other not-for-profit groups, such as The…...
Trusts are "legitimate" for SMEs, inheritance: Charlton
2+ week, 5+ day ago (96+ words) AFR Federal government minister and former entrepreneur Andrew Charlton says trusts are a legitimate tool used by many small businesses and families for inheritance, including himself, as Labor imposes higher taxes on the popular financial vehicle. The defence of trusts…...
Conveyancing giant with ties to Aussie Home Loans collapses
3+ week, 17+ hour ago (50+ words) AFR Settle Easy, the country's sixth-largest conveyance firm, has fallen on hard times and this afternoon called in administrators at SALEA to run the show. Property lawyer and conveyancer Settle Easy helps Australians to buy or sell property. Bloomberg...
The 30pc trust tax coming for big four and top-tier law partners
3+ week, 2+ day ago (105+ words) AFR It was lucrative fun while it lasted. That's the consensus among the more pragmatic equity partners at big four accounting and top-tier law firms, who will have to pay tens of thousands of dollars more in tax once Labor's…...
PM doesn't get life and deaths stakes in Labor's trust tax
3+ week, 3+ day ago (66+ words) AFR The flexibility characterised as some kind of aggressive tax is, in reality, the mechanism that allows wills to function sensibly across generations of Australians. That uncertainty sits at the heart of modern estate planning and explains why Australians preparing…...
Two years of limbo for estates caught by budget trust changes
3+ week, 3+ day ago (75+ words) AFR Grieving families are facing legal and financial limbo following sudden budget changes to testamentary trusts because they don't know whether their loved ones' estates will be taxed under the old rules or hit by the new 30 per cent rate....