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The ATO has highlighted the fact that due to COVID-19, a trustee may experience liquidity issues that may affect a trust’s ability to satisfy a beneficiary’s entitlement. This may happen where financial institutions impose restrictions that affect the way a trustee can deal with its assets. The ATO states that where a present entitlement arose…

Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash Distributions from trusts and the taxation of those distributions can be complex. This is an attempt to simplify the topic. The purpose of a trust is to separate the legal and beneficial ownership of assets. The legal ownership of the asset rests with the trustee. The beneficiaries benefit from…

An essential starting point for consideration of trust income and how that income is to be distributed is to look at the trust deed. This very central document sets out the rules and expectations for the governance and operation of the trust and the powers that can be exercised by the trustee. Although it can…

The ATO says that it recognises that most trusts are used appropriately and for legitimate purposes. It says it will continue to help those who make genuine mistakes or are uncertain about how the law applies to their circumstances. The ATO has a number of “trust risk rules” in place to identify higher risk compliance…

A testamentary trust works in tandem with a will, and is similar to a discretionary trust, with the major difference being it only takes effect upon the death of the person who made the will. The trust can be funded by some or by all of your assets, and by payments derived as a consequence…

The ATO has stated that a trust’s capital gains and franked distributions can, if not prevented by the trust deed, be streamed to beneficiaries for tax purposes by making these beneficiaries “specifically entitled” (more below) to the amounts. This allows beneficiaries to offset capital gains with their capital losses, apply applicable discounts and, subject to…

Trusts are an important and very useful concept for managing one’s financial affairs, as well as estate planning. Atrust is established whenever there is a separation of the legal ownership (for example, the name appearing on a land title) from the beneficial (equitable) owner of an asset (in other words, the person that a court…

Trust structures and their use can often be misunderstood – we demystify some of the jargon. WHY USE A TRUST? Trusts are commonly used to protect assets, as property and other assets that are held by a trust have a level of protection from creditors. A trust can also maintain an estate until a beneficiary…