The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) published the final version of the Practical Compliance Guidelines (PCG) 2016/16, which provides guidance in relation to what will be considered by the Commissioner when exercising his discretion to treat an interest in the income or capital of a trust as being a fixed entitlement, and by extension whether a trust is a fixed trust for most tax law purposes.

In the case of MSAUS v FC of T the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) recently held that Division 135 of the A New Tax System  \Goods and Services Tax Act (GST Act) did not apply to impose an increasing adjustment (an amount of GST on an otherwise GST-free transaction) to the sale of leased residential apartments.

The 2017 The Lawyers Weekly Australian Law Awards were held on Friday, September 1st at the Star in Sydney. Harwood Andrews was again announced as the winner of the best Regional/Suburban Law firm of the Year for 2017.