On 15 February 2022, the Victorian State Revenue Office (SRO) published ruling LTA-009 (Draft Ruling) that replaced the previous rulings of LTA-004 and LTA-005.

The consultation process closed for comments and submissions on 15 March 2022. We will provide updates when the SRO releases their final ruling in due course.

The Horticulture Code of Conduct is a mandatory industry code prescribed under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, and we’re expecting increased enforcement activity from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in 2021 in line with ACCC’s continued concerns about the supply of perishable agriculture products and agricultural supply chain arrangements generally.

The Dairy Industry Code of Conduct (the Code) aims to improve the clarity and transparency of trading arrangements between dairy farmers and those buying their milk.

The Supreme Court of Victoria has determined that wind farm infrastructure (such as wind turbines, towers and wind-monitoring buildings) were chattels, rather than fixtures.

For some time, the Government has been concerned about Australia’s inability to deal with phoenix activity, which creates an unfair advantage for companies which engage in wrongful activity and costs the economy billions of dollars each year.

In this case, the High Court reiterated that a person can be deemed to be an “officer” of a company even if that person does not hold a position as a named ‘Director’ or ‘Secretary’.

The case of Annat v Commissioner of State Revenue [2020] VSC 108 (Annat) serves as a timely reminder for those operating a farm about difficulties faced by farming land owners in continuing to qualify for a primary production land tax exemption and the importance of ensuring that their structuring and record keeping practices are up to scratch.

On the weekend ASIC released guidelines for upcoming AGM requirements as companies are impacted by social distancing requirements in response to COVID-19.

The Retail Leases Amendment Bill (Bill) proposes reforms to the Retail Leases Act (Act) in an effort to make retail leases fairer and easier to understand.

In some circumstances farm leases will be outside the scope of The Retail Leases Act (Act) following a determination by the Minister for Small Business, exempting farm leases from the Act, effective from 29 October 2019.

In FCT v Eichmann [2019] FCA 2155 (Eichmann), the Federal Court overruled the decision in Eichmann v FCT [2019] AATA 162 and held that land used for the storage of equipment and materials that were utilised in the respondent’s building, bricklaying and paving business was not an active asset for the purposes of accessing the small business capital gains tax (CGT) concessions contained in Division 152 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth) (Act).

The Victorian State Revenue Office (SRO) has announced that it will be ending its “practical approach” to whether discretionary trusts trigger the foreign duty surcharge on a purchase

On 12 December 2019, the controversial Treasury Laws Amendment (Reducing Pressure on Housing Affordability Measures) Bill 2019 (Bill) was granted royal assent. 

On 13 December 2019, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) released Taxation Determination TD 2019/14 (Determination), which addresses the question of whether, and how, a trust may be split.

A range of factors affect whether or not an individual engaged to perform work is actually an employee or an independent contractor.

In the most recent chapter of the battle between the Victorian State Revenue Office and The Optical Superstore Pty Ltd, the Commissioner of State Revenue has claimed victory, with the Court of Appeal finding on 12 September 2019 that transfers of funds made to optometrists by Optical Superstore were subject to payroll tax under Victorian law.

When considering whether an allied health worker is an employee or a contractor, one factor to consider is in respect of the provision of tools, equipment and other assets required to undertake the work.

The measure of control exercised by one party over the other is an important factor in determining the nature of the relationship between a purported contractor and principal, or employee and employer.

Workers in the allied health industry, such as nurses, doctors and other professionals may find themselves exposed to many different risks and hazards on a day-to-day basis, including lifting and moving patients and equipment; work-related stress; slips, trips and falls; exposure to infectious diseases and occupational violence.

The tax obligations on a practice in relation to an employment relationship are often perceived as being significantly more costly (and restrictive) compared to simply engaging a practitioner as an independent contractor. However tread carefully when making this decision, as getting your characterisation of a worker wrong can be even more costly and you may find yourself on the wrong side of the law.