COVID-19 has taught us to expect the unexpected. Australians are generally positive people with a ‘she’ll be right’ attitude to all aspects of life including in business. However, COVID-19 has caused many people to question that attitude and as a result many are now understanding the importance of planning for the worst-case scenario.

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.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has released guidelines which set out the ATO’s proposed compliance approach to the allocation of profits by professional firms. The Draft Practical Compliance Guideline PCG 2021/D2 Allocation of professional firm profits – ATO compliance approach (Draft PCG) make substantial changes to the former guidance that the ATO suspended in late 2017.

The decision made by the NSW Court of Appeal in Chief Commissioner of State Revenue v Downer EDI Engineering Pty Ltd [2020] NSWCA 126 was an unsatisfactory outcome for the NSW chief Commissioner of State Revenue’s (Commissioner).

With bitcoin prices skyrocketing, investors becoming aware of the instability of fiat currencies (AUD, GBP, USD etc), and low interest rates stemming from the economic downturn of COVID-19, the world of cryptocurrency is once again filling up social media feeds.

For some time, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has been issuing notices for a compliance program focussed on the “Next 5000” private groups in Australia (Next 5000 Tax Performance Program).

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has issued Taxation Determination TD 2021/2 that contains the ATO view that companies that carry on a business in a general sense but whose only activity is renting out an investment property will be unable to benefit from the small business capital gains tax (CGT) concessions in relation to that property.

From 28 June 2021, school boarding premises will need to be registered with the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA), and meet certain minimum standards.

The Commonwealth Treasury has released exposure draft legislation amending the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth) (ITAA).

The Victorian State Budget for the 2020-21 year has a focus on “people” and economic stimulus in order to assist the economy recover from the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns.

The budget focused on promoting investment into housing and planning, rebuilding the state and its economy.

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 29 March 2020 the Federal Government announced changes to the foreign investment review regime as Australia continues to deal with the economic implications of COVID-19.

Once the legislation is passed, effective from 29 March 2020, all proposed foreign investment into Australia subject to the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 will require approval.

A recent Court of Appeal (Court) decision has clarified the application of section 35(1)(a) of the Duties Act 2000 (Vic). This section provides an exemption from transfer duty that applies when property is transferred to a trustee to be held solely as trustee of the transferor without any change in the beneficial ownership of the property.

On 30 March 2020 the Federal Government announced further COVID-19 business support in the form of the JobKeeper Payment, which is intended to keep individuals connected with their employer and talks to the ‘hibernation’ of businesses already mentioned by the Prime Minister.

Under the JobKeeper Payment, businesses significantly affected by Coronavirus outbreak will be able to access a $1,500 support payment per employee per fortnight for up to 6 months from the Government to continue paying their employees.

Both Federal, State and Territory Governments and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) have adopted measures to assist taxpayers and businesses through the current COVID-19 crisis. We have prepared a summary of the support packages.

The ATO is offering assistance to those individuals and businesses impacted by the recent and ongoing bushfires that have impacted large parts of Australia since late 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.