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Sladen Snippet - Amendment to National Employment Standards includes five days’ unpaid domestic violence leave

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Sladen Snippet - Amendment to National Employment Standards includes five days’ unpaid domestic violence leave

Unpaid family and domestic violence leave have been enshrined in Australian law, with almost all Australian employees now having access to five days’ unpaid family and domestic violence leave each year.

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Sladen snippet – Burgess v Burgess – another super death benefit conflict case

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Sladen snippet – Burgess v Burgess – another super death benefit conflict case

The decision of Burgess v Burgess is another case which considers conflicts of interest in the context of paying super death benefits. It follows a number of recent similar cases, including Re Narumon Pty Ltd, Brine v Carter and McIntosh v McIntosh. The strong consistent theme across all of these cases is that the Courts will strictly uphold fiduciary duties (even if they have “unfair” outcomes).

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Sladen Snippet – off and running (almost), Senate passes tightened requirements to CGT concessions for companies and trusts from 8 February 2018

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Sladen Snippet – off and running (almost), Senate passes tightened requirements to CGT concessions for companies and trusts from 8 February 2018

On 20 September 2017, the Senate passed the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2018 (the Bill).

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Sladen Snippet – Sladen Legal Principal Daniel Smedley Again Named As One Of Australia’s Best Lawyers

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Sladen Snippet – Sladen Legal Principal Daniel Smedley Again Named As One Of Australia’s Best Lawyers

Sladen Legal Principal, Daniel Smedley, has again been named as one of Australia’s best lawyers in the 11th edition of the Best Lawyers In Australia, for his work in Tax Law. The accolade was announced in the Australian Financial Review on 12 April 2018.

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Sladen Snippet - Aussiegolfa part 1 - the in-house asset rules and what is an interest in a trust?

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Sladen Snippet - Aussiegolfa part 1 - the in-house asset rules and what is an interest in a trust?

The recent decision of Aussiegolfa v FCT is an important decision for considering two aspects of the superannuation laws that are not often considered by the Courts, the in-house asset rules and the sole purpose test. This snippet looks at the former, another snippet looks at the latter.

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Sladen Snippet - Aussiegolfa part 2 – Court finds SMSF to be in breach of the sole purpose test

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Sladen Snippet - Aussiegolfa part 2 – Court finds SMSF to be in breach of the sole purpose test

The recent decision of Aussiegolfa v FCT is an important decision for considering two aspects of the superannuation laws that are not often considered by the Courts, the in-house asset rules and the sole purpose test. This snippet looks at the latter, another snippet looks at the former.

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Sladen Snippet - Additional stamp duty trigger for option agreements

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Sladen Snippet - Additional stamp duty trigger for option agreements

As part of the Victorian State Budget, a number of stamp duty changes have been proposed, many of which have received significant media attention (including the abolition of the off the plan duty concession for investors, the abolition of stamp duty for some first home buyers, and the removal of the blanket duty exemption for transfers between spouses).

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Sladen Snippet – ATO to extend transitional period for new SMSF TBAR reporting regime

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Sladen Snippet – ATO to extend transitional period for new SMSF TBAR reporting regime

As reported in our previous Sladen Snippet, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is currently developing a new self managed superannuation fund (SMSF) event based reporting regime to be called the Transfer Balance Account Report or TBAR.

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Sladen Snippet - Commissioner is under no duty to issue amended land tax assessments

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Sladen Snippet - Commissioner is under no duty to issue amended land tax assessments

The High Court of Australia has recently allowed an appeal against a decision of the Victoria Court of Appeal and held that the Commissioner was not under a duty to issue amended assessments and refund an excess amount of land tax that has erroneously been paid by a taxpayer.

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Sladen Snippet - Lawyer's immunity from suit

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Sladen Snippet - Lawyer's immunity from suit

Australia has for a long time been one of the only common law countries to enshrine a lawyer’s immunity from suit. The common law principle provides lawyers with an immunity from any claim made against them for negligence arising out of their conduct of a Court case and/or work undertaken outside of Court that results in a decision affecting the conduct of the case in Court. 

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Sladen Snippet – super changes in the 2016 Budget

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Sladen Snippet – super changes in the 2016 Budget

It’s hard to know what to do with a budget handed down by a Government that will not have enough time to pass any measures before it goes into an election. Do you follow the current laws or the laws as they are proposed to be changed in the future (if the Government is re-elected and if it can pass the measures in the newly constituted parliament)? That is the situation we currently find ourselves in with the proposed super changes and in particular the lifetime non-concessional contributions cap.