Oliver Hume decision – Independent investors charged with aggregated landholder duty on capital raising

The Victorian Court of Appeal has recently handed down its unanimous decision in Oliver Hume Property Funds (Broad Gully Rd) Diamond Creek Pty Ltd v Commissioner of State Revenue [2024] VSCA 175. The Court of Appeal found that 18 independent and unrelated investors who subscribed for shares under a publicly available information memorandum were held […]

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New draft ruling: Who is an employee, according to the ATO?

The ATO administers and enforces superannuation guarantee compliance under the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 (Cth) (SGAA). The ATO has released its updated (draft) ruling TR 2023/4 on ‘who is an employee’, to set out its view on who is an employee for superannuation guarantee purposes. The update to draft ruling TR 2023/4 is a […]

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Doing business in Australia

The Gadens Doing business in Australia guide provides foreign investors with an overview of the Australian business, economic and regulatory environment, as well as practical advice on how to go about setting up and doing business in Australia. Australia is an ideal investment location for foreign companies looking to grow internationally, benefitting from well-developed infrastructure, […]

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Post-Budget 2023 Analysis – Superannuation – Frankly, not creditable

Following on from its previous announcement, the Australian Federal Government has confirmed that from 1 July 2025, individuals with a total superannuation balance (TSB) exceeding $3 million will be personally subject to an additional tax on increases in their TSB at a rate of up to 15%. TSB includes all superannuation held by an individual. […]

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Pretending that the Surplus is Real – Gadens’ take on the Federal Budget

Buttressed by the record tax windfall from commodity exports, the second Chalmers Budget shirks the responsibility to pursue substantive tax reform and defaults to a series of measures which, whilst preserving a sense of political “Chalm”, appear lacking in coherent policy direction or strategy. On a night when a tax avoidance scandal cost the Government […]

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A novel approach to review of ‘too high’ land valuations in Victoria

On 9 March 2023 the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) has sought to settle a much contested area of law in respect to the review of a valuation of land in the preliminary decision in S & JG Investments Pty Ltd v Valuer-General Victoria (Land Valuation) [2023] VCAT 246 (S & JG Investments). In […]

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Federal Court cracks down on legal privilege claims – An operational hazard for the multi-disciplinary firms?

A multi-disciplinary firm has used legal privilege to shield documents from the ATO during an audit of its multinational clients, a judge has found, in a ruling that has put multi-disciplinary firms on notice. In Commissioner of Taxation v PricewaterhouseCoopers [2022] FCA 278 Federal Court Justice Moshinsky ruled that a legitimate relationship between lawyer and […]

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FMCG Express | May 2021 Edition

2021 certainly started with a bang; we are seeing a significant boost in appetite for advice right across our FMCG client base, including a lot of M&A activity, and we are excited to see how the year ahead unfolds. In the May 2021 edition of FMCG Express, editor Hazel McDwyer and the Gadens team provide […]

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Countering Victoria’s Land Tax Grab

Amidst the outcry over the Victorian Government’s recently announced increases in land tax rates, it is more important than ever for landowners to consider potential strategies for containing their land tax cost. Indeed the latest announcement is just a further symptom of the Government over-reliance on land tax, which is also impacting landlords in a […]

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The good, the bad and the ugly of pandemic budgeting

Gadens’ view of the Federal Budget 2021/22 The Government’s second pandemic era Budget continues the theme of massive deficits being used in part to accelerate investment in productive assets and fund other targeted relief. Amongst the ‘good’ news however lurk several ‘bad’ and ‘ugly’ measures which will result in varied impacts across our client base. […]

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A Federal Budget with Paradox befitting a Pandemic

Gadens’ view of the Federal Budget 2020/21 The Government’s historic pandemic-era Budget is the most unashamedly pro-business budget in memory which also seeks to buttress employment from the headwinds of recession and technological change. In a seemingly counterintuitive outcome for a ‘pro-jobs’ strategy, the Budget’s tax depreciation policy change is poised to accelerate the inexorable […]

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COVID-19 | The tax benefits of working from home

Overview What are the methods for calculating your home office tax deduction? Prior to 1 March 2020, there were two methods a taxpayer could use to calculate their home office tax deduction: the Fixed Rate Method; or the Actual Cost Method. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has introduced […]

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