News

On 19 February 2025, the Full Court of the Federal Court handed down a highly anticipated ruling in Commissioner of Taxation v Bendel [2025] FCAFC 15. This case tackled a key issue in private group structures—whether an unpaid present entitlement (UPE) to a corporate beneficiary qualifies as a “loan” under Division 7A of the Income...

Big changes are coming to foreign resident capital gains withholding laws, and they’re now officially locked in. If you’re selling certain taxable real property (like Australian land), these rules apply to you—even if you’re an Australian resident. Here’s why: Under these laws, if you don’t have a valid ‘clearance certificate’ from the ATO at or...

The ATO has set the record straight on some common misconceptions about Division 7A—the tax rules that prevent private companies from distributing profits or assets to shareholders (or their associates) tax-free. In short, if a private company provides a payment, loan, or other benefit to a shareholder or their associate, it could be treated as...

The ATO is stepping up its data-matching efforts when it comes to rental properties. From 2024 to 2026, it will collect rental bond data from State and Territory regulators twice a year. What kind of rental bond data? The program will capture details of landlords, tenants, property managers, and rental bond transactions. Why is the...

Good news for anyone with a study or training loan—indexation rates have been reduced, and the changes have been backdated. Previously, study and training loan indexation was tied solely to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Now, it’s based on the lower of CPI or the Wage Price Index. This change applies to all HELP, VET...

If you’re a trustee of a self-managed super fund (SMSF) with assets as of 30 June 2024, it’s time to start thinking about lodging your SMSF annual return (SAR) for the 2023/24 financial year. The SAR isn’t just a tax return—it also reports super regulatory information, member contributions, and includes the SMSF supervisory levy. When...

A joint investigation by the ATO has led to $13.6 million in penalties after a Sydney business coach was found to have promoted unlawful tax schemes between 2014 and 2017. The schemes encouraged clients to lodge over-inflated, inaccurate, or unsubstantiated R&D tax incentive claims, leading to serious legal consequences. The Federal Court’s decision The business...

In a recent decision, a taxpayer’s claims for various work-related expenses were rejected by the AAT. The taxpayer was employed as a traffic controller in the 2020 income year.  In his income tax return for that year he claimed $9,800 in work-related deductions, including for car expenses (using the cents per km method), travel expenses,...

The ATO has been responsible for the administration of the early release of superannuation on compassionate grounds since 1 July 2018.   It will only approve a release of superannuation on compassionate grounds if the applicant meets all the conditions set out in the regulations, including that the applicant has no other means to pay the...

From 1 April 2025, a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (‘PHEV’) will not be considered a zero or low emissions vehicle under fringe benefits tax (‘FBT’) law and will not be eligible for the electric car FBT exemption.  However, an employer can continue to apply the electric car exemption if: ■   use of the PHEV...