The experiments continue: R&D incentive design after Budget 2026
There is a quiet but profound shift embedded in the 2026 Budget’s R&D Tax Incentive (R&DTI) reforms. It is another hypothesis in a long-running policy experiment to define what innovation is, and how much of it Government should support. It goes well beyond rates, thresholds or offsets. Historically, the R&DTI has recognised that innovation is […]
ReadmoreBudget 2026: “Please sir, I want some more… enforcement powers”
Boards and management will face an increasingly muscular tax compliance and enforcement landscape, with heightened expectations around internal governance, record-keeping and advisor-oversight, following the Government’s Budget announcements about greater ATO powers. The Federal Government has put taxpayers on notice in its 2026 Budget, flagging its intention to continue to prioritise the detection and prevention of […]
ReadmoreATO pivots to enforcement and penalties for STP breaches
The Australian Taxation Office has updated its website to announce a new draft Law Administration Practice Statement is coming on the administration of penalties that apply to employers or superannuation funds who fail to comply with Single Touch Payroll (STP) reporting obligations. The ATO has said the draft title of the new PS LA is […]
ReadmoreOliver 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 […]
ReadmoreNew 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 […]
ReadmoreDoing 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, […]
ReadmorePost-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. […]
ReadmorePretending 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 […]
ReadmoreA 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 […]
ReadmoreFederal 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 […]
ReadmoreFMCG 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 […]
ReadmoreCountering 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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