Legal news
The Victorian State Budget for the 2023-2024 year (Budget) brings with it a range of state taxation measures aimed at reigning in the Victorian Government’s surging debt, currently projected at $135.4 billion for the 2023-2024 tax year and set to grow to an “eye-watering” $171.4 billion in the 2026-2027
As seen in Part 1 of our article on the case of Williams v Williams, this is the latest of a long line of cases that have found that a binding death benefit nomination (BDBN) was not binding. However, the case also is an important decision in relation to when the Court will remove an SMSF trustee.
In the case of Williams v Williams, the Supreme Court of Queensland has determined that a binding death benefit nomination (BDBN) was not binding on the basis that it was not provided to the trustees of the applicable self managed superannuation fund (SMSF).
One of the anomalies of the super guarantee system is the inability of employees to force employers to make contributions payable under the system. That could soon change, with proposed changes to the Fair Work Act 2009 which would allow employees to force employers to make contributions to avoid the liability to pay the super contribution charge under the Superannuation Guarantee Charge Act 1992 (SG Act)
The Government has announced that, from 1 July 2026, employers will obligated to make super contributions at the same time they pay their employee’s their salary and wages (eg weekly, fortnightly or monthly). Currently, super must be made within 28 days of the end of each quarter.
The Full Federal Court has confirmed in Jamsek v ZG Operations Australia Pty Ltd (No 3) [2023] FCAFC 48 that a truck driver partnership was not eligible for super guarantee contributions. The decision is an important decision in relation the application to super guarantee in relation to contractors and, in particular, partnerships and other entities.
The New South Wales Court of Appeal (NSWCA) in Thomas and Naaz Pty Ltd v Chief Commissioner of State Revenue [2023] NSWCA 40 has dismissed a medical practice’s appeal and upheld the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal Appeal Panel’s (Appeal Panel) decision that payments from a medical practice to doctors, who worked at the practice, are subject to payroll tax.
Treasury has released an information sheet on how the new “30% tax rate” for super balances over $3 million will work.
According to the ATO’s March 2022 statistical data (see here), the total value of crypto assets held by SMSFs was $220 million. That is less than 0.03% of all SMSF investments. The number of SMSFs that held crypto assets was 3,345 SMSFs being 0.6% of SMSFs.
On 21 February 2023 Revenue NSW announced that it has been determined that NSW surcharge purchaser duty and surcharge land tax (Surcharge Provisions) are inconsistent with international tax treaties entered into by the Australian Federal Government with New Zealand, Finland, Germany, and South Africa (Treaty Countries).
The introduction of windfall gains tax under the Windfall Gains Tax and State Taxation and Other Acts Further Amendment Act 2021 (Vic) (Act) has been highly controversial from the outset due to real concerns as to whether the tax truly captures a purported “windfall” by landowners who rezone land in Victoria and its punitive tax rate of 50% of such gains.
After industry pushback against the disproportionate application of the non-arm’s length income (NALI) and non-arm’s length expenses (NALE) rules, Treasury has a released a discussion paper to modify the application of the NALI/NALE rules.
The High Court of Australia has dismissed the special leave application by the taxpayer, Vicinity Funds Re Ltd (Taxpayer) to appeal from a decision of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria (Court of Appeal).
In an interesting development, the ATO has released a warning in relation to SMSFs entering into gift and loan back arrangements.
In the recent Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (Tribunal) decision in Lavender Rain Pty Ltd v Commissioner of State Revenue (Review and Regulation) [2022] VCAT 1264 (Lavender Rain) the primary production land tax exemption for urban zoned land was denied on the basis that the land owning company operated a number of businesses, including the entering into a property development agreement.
In Part 1 of our Super Guarantee article series, we discussed the background to the super guarantee regime and an overview of how the regime operates. In Part 2, we looked at who will be covered by the super guarantee regime, and in Part 3 we specifically looked at when this will include certain contractors.
As discussed under Part 2 of this super guarantee article series, under the super guarantee system, super contributions must be made on behalf of “employees” as that term is defined under the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 (SG Act).
The recent Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal’s (Tribunal) decision in Petroulis v Commissioner of State Revenue [2022] VCAT 1054 dismissed the taxpayers’ request for review of the land tax assessments issued by the Commissioner.
