Key Documents
On 16 December 2010, the Assistant Treasurer announced that the Government would conduct a public consultation process as the first step towards updating the trust income tax provisions in Division 6 of Part III of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 and rewriting them into the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.
As part of this process the Assistant Treasurer also announced that he would seek advice from the Board of Taxation (Board) on whether there are any issues with the operation of the trust income tax provisions that must be addressed in this current tax year.
After examining the advice provided by the Board, the Assistant Treasurer has now released a discussion paper that considers ways to implement two interim reforms that will provide taxpayers with increased certainty, and reduce the scope for unfair tax outcomes and the manipulation of tax liabilities through the use of trusts.