Legal news
A recent Supreme Court decision has made it clear that there is nothing in the Retail Leases Act that restricts the issue of a certificate by the VSBC until after a mediation has been conducted and the absence of a mediation does not invalidate a certificate. The VSBC can form a view that a mediation is unlikely to resolve a dispute based on the refusal of one party to participate in a proposed mediation and issue a valid certificate so that an aggrieved party can commence proceedings in VCAT.
Doyle’s Guide is a comprehensive and independent directory which showcases Australia’s best firms and lawyers. The 2023 listing of leading Victorian Wills, Estates & Succession Planning Law Firms details law firms practising within the areas of Wills, Estates and Succession Planning matters in the Victorian legal market who have been identified by their peers for their expertise and abilities in these areas.
The Victorian Supreme Court has confirmed that payment of funds into Court as security for costs will not give rise to a security interest required to be registered on the PPSR, even if the payment was made pursuant to consent orders. This means that section 267 of the PPSA will not assist external administrators to recover funds paid into Court as security for costs under a Court order.
With land tax rate increases and surcharges imminent as a result of the Victorian State Budget for the 2023-2024 year (see our article here), Victorian landowners may be reconsidering their investment property portfolios and the merits of selling versus keeping.
On 17 August 2023, the Court of Appeal in the Victoria Supreme Court handed down its decision in Krongold v Thurin [2023] VSCA 191. This decision is a further instalment in a long running domestic building dispute between homeowners, David and Lisa Thurin (Thurin) and their builder, Krongold Constructions (Aust) Pty Ltd (Krongold).
The ATO has taken an aggressive approach on non-arm’s length income (NALI) for a number of years now, both in its public documents and via its audit teams. This has culminated in an approach that puts a high expectation on SMSF’s in relation to proving arrangements are on an arm’s length basis – in particular, in relation to benchmarking such arrangements.
Alicia Hill has joined Sladen Legal to head our dispute resolution and litigation practice.
In the recent decision of Geelong Turf Company Pty Ltd and Commissioner of Taxation [2023] AATA 1718, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) upheld super guarantee charge (SGC) assessments issued by the Commissioner of Taxation (Commissioner) and refused to remit the 100% SGC Part 7 penalties.
The second tranche of workplace relations reforms have now received Royal Assent, bringing into force the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Protecting Worker Entitlements) Act 2023 (Cth) (Entitlements Act) on 1 July 2023. It is important that employers are aware of the changes and how these changes will impact the workplace.
The recent interest rate rises will result in significant increases in the LRBA safe harbour interest rates, and the Division 7A interest rate, for the 2023/24 year. The interest rates will be:
LRBA real estate safe harbour interest rate – 8.85% (was 5.35%)
LRBA listed share safe harbour interest rate – 10.85% (was 7.35%)
Division 7A interest rate – 8.27% (was 4.77%)
Treasury has release proposed legislative changes to the non-arm’s length expences (NALE) rules. While they are not as bad as the initial proposal to take NALE at a rate of 225%, they are still not ideal.
The ATO’s attacks on SMSFs conducting property development continues! The ATO has released Taxpayer Alert TA 2023/2 (the Alert) confirming that the ATO will review arrangements where related entities of a SMSF are conducting a property development (or including where property development is undertaken on SMSF owned assets) and where a special purpose vehicle (SPV) is used. The SPV being a company or trust which will be a related party to the SMSF through which generally a member of the SMSF may provide property development services to the SMSF for a commercial arm’s length fee and acquire and manage building materials used for the development.
The Full Federal Court in the BBlood appeal found for the ATO on section 100A and the taxpayer dividend stripping (albeit on a technical, non-substantive basis).
The 100A analysis was limited to ‘tax avoidance purpose’ with the Full Court holding that, in certain circumstances, the purpose of advisors can be relevant.
