Just being a beneficiary of a discretionary trust (whether or not one ever receives any distribution from the trust) can have all sorts of unintended consequences. For example, in Western Australia a company or unit trust which might not otherwise be a “l...

By now, many will be aware of the recent release of Practical Compliance Guideline PCG 2017/13, containing guidance for trustees with unpaid present entitlements (UPEs) held on about-to-expire “sub-trust” arrangements. With the clock ticking on post-Dec...

In April this year the NSW Court of Appeal unanimously agreed that a commercial lawyer was negligent in failing to advise on the tax consequences of a proposed buy-back: Ralston v Jurisich [2017] NSWCA 63. In brief Mrs Jurisich was the holder of pre-CGT shar...

The Story So Far In the last three months, we have seen a significant number of changes in the skilled migration landscape, leaving many potential visa applicants (and temporary visa holders wishing to transition to permanent residency) perplexed. In an ea...

From 1 July 2017, pensions need to be supported by no more than $1.6 million of assets and tax changes would encourage almost all transition to retirement pensions to cease. The measure will require accurate commutation documents prepared prior to the event...

On 18 April 2017, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced the staged abolition of the Subclass 457 visa under the rhetoric of "Australia first". The changes came with very little warning. Some have said that the changes are cosmetic and will have little i...