December 2024
- Exclusive
- Tax avoidance
Secret shareholder register overhauled amid privacy fears
A plan to expose the secret beneficial owners of three million unlisted companies and trusts has been overhauled due to fears of identity theft and cybercrime.
- Ronald Mizen
October 2024
Would your family trust survive a black sheep attack?
Trusts are the go-to structure for asset protection and inheritance planning but as more wealthy families are discovering, they’re not bulletproof. Experts weigh in on how to prevent costly showdowns.
- Duncan Hughes
September 2024
Why this Baby Boomer is leaving everything to her grandkids - not kids
Grandchildren are emerging as winners of the $4.9 trillion generational wealth transfer as the bank of nan and pop funds home deposits, cars and tuition fees.
- Duncan Hughes and Lucy Dean
- Opinion
- Opinion
The blueprint for Aussie wealth creation may no longer apply
For the past 30 years, creating and preserving wealth has followed a predictable pattern. But things have shifted, perhaps irrevocably.
- Shaun Cartoon
June 2024
Which investment vehicle is best to build wealth?
Super, trusts and investment companies all have their pros and cons. The decision on which to use often comes down to tax.
- Ben Smythe
- Opinion
- Company tax
The ATO ‘loan’ rules all wealthy families should know
Complex Division 7a penalties on some trust payments to companies are still catching many by surprise – even though they started almost 30 years ago.
- Shaun Cartoon
March 2024
- Opinion
- Smart Investor
Why estranged family members might still have a claim on trust money
A decision in the Victorian courts found that trustee must engage in bona fide inquiries about potential beneficiaries.
- Peter Townsend
March 2024
What to do with a big inheritance
Around $10 billion worth of shares, cash and property is bequeathed every month in Australia. Experts weight in on how to manage a windfall.
- Duncan Hughes
February 2024
This bygone inheritance strategy is making a comeback
Unborn children and grandchildren are taking precedence over in-laws and other new arrivals as blended families raise the stakes in estate planning.
- Duncan Hughes
January 2024
Take brave tax reform to 2025 election, Labor urged
A growing coalition of business and tax groups have called on the Albanese government to be bold ahead of the 2025 poll.
- Tom McIlroy
November 2023
The five property fights ripping families apart
Verbal agreements around the kitchen table – such as those cited in the case of pop star Vanessa Amorosi – are just some of the triggers. This is how to avoid them.
- Duncan Hughes
October 2023
Super funds use rising rates to boost returns, lower risk
The surge in bond rates is creating seismic shifts in global asset allocations. Super funds are poised to take advantage.
- Jonathan Shapiro
Family trusts brace for $1b fight with ATO
This is how to check whether you are eligible for a refund after a challenge to the tax office on disputed loans.
- Duncan Hughes
‘Game changer’ tax ruling may lead to refunds for family trusts
The AAT ruling potentially questions the past 14 years of tax treatment of about 971,000 family trusts, most of which have corporate beneficiaries.
- Duncan Hughes
A family trust strategy to deal with the $3m super tax
The first hurdle is that to both access your fund and withdraw lump sums, you must satisfy a condition that allows this – either retiring or turning 65.
- John Wasiliev
September 2023
One family trust and three kids – what can go wrong?
What happens when one son doesn’t need the capital, another wants to develop a property with a huge loan and the daughter needs money ASAP for a new home.
- Peter Townsend
August 2023
- Opinion
- Tax minimisation
Level the tax-raising playing field
The government’s crackdown passes the pub test. But the revenue lost through the most egregious tax avoidance schemes is dwarfed by the amounts whisked away through perfectly legal means.
- Robert Breunig
July 2023
In the Forrest family empire, it’s all a matter of trust
Andrew and Nicola Forrest’s sprawling private empire was incorrectly applying a key clause of the Corporations Act for years. So who’s in charge now?
- Peter Ker and Brad Thompson
- Analysis
- Legal profession
Can Allan Myers save rich, divorced men?
The long-time member of the Melbourne establishment is mounting what may be a last-ditch defence of the family trust.
- Aaron Patrick
June 2023
Fury as small business owners face 73pc rise on shareholder loans
Rates set at 8.3pc under Division 7A – intended to stop profits going tax-free to private company shareholders – means they’ll feel the squeeze.
- Duncan Hughes