-- Taxacct.com.au has published a new article entitled The Bendel Decision: A Landmark Ruling on Unpaid Present Entitlements, which sheds light on the most important aspects of The landmark Bendel Federal Court decision in February 2025 which reverses the Australian Taxation Office’s long-held position on unpaid present entitlements in family trusts for Tax and Accounting Practitioners. they are concerned with the tax planning consequences of the decision and status of family trust distributions, Div 7A compliance, Section 100A risks and the uncertainty of the Tax Office's administration going forward. and other interested individuals can view the full article at https://taxacct.com.au/the-bendel-decision-a-landmark-ruling-on-unpaid-present-entitlements/
The article includes several interesting pieces of information, one in particular is the Tax Commissioner has not accepted the Court decision and has sought special leave to appeal. This should be of particular interest to Tax and Accounting Practitioners because So whilst the there is the chance that Tax Office's stance will (justifiably in the minds of many) be proved to be wrong, a clear path for tax advice won't be available until the legal processes are complete..
One of the most important piece of information the article tries to convey and communicate is Practitioners must closely monitor developments, review trust distribution practices, and advise clients on both current risks and possible future changes depending on the outcome of the ATO’s appeal,. The best example of this is perhaps found in the following extract:
'The UPE treatment has been a contentious issue since late 2009, when the ATO first took the controversial view that UPEs owed by a trust to a company can be treated as if they were loans for Division 7A purposes. This can lead to a deemed unfranked dividend being triggered for tax purposes.'
In discussing the article's creation, George Davis, Senior Editor at Taxacct.com.au said:
"The Bendel decision has huge tax ramifications for all stakeholders, as the potential tax involved is very significant, and extends over a number of years and into the future. Tax advisors and their clients need certainty, and the Tax Office is obviously concerned about what it sees as an erosion of tax collections through the use of trusts. It may well result in the government legislating a solution, which opens a fresh can of worms in a complicated area of tax administration. Until this is settled, practitioners need to get across the detail, in order to manage their clients' tax exposure .."
Regular readers of Taxacct.com.au will notice the article takes a familiar tone, which has been described as 'professional and to the point.'.
Taxacct.com.au now welcomes comments and questions from readers, in relation to the article, as they are intent on providing as much exposure to the issues as possible.. The reason is simply because in order to focus the attention of the professional community..
Anyone who has a specific question about a past, present, or future article can contact Taxacct.com.au via their website at https://taxacct.com.au
The complete article is available to view in full at https://taxacct.com.au/the-bendel-decision-a-landmark-ruling-on-unpaid-present-entitlements/.
Contact Info:
Name: Nathan Sherry
Email: Send Email
Organization: Barnfire Pty Ltd
Address: PO Box 96, Pingelly, WA 6308, Australia
Website: https://taxacct.com.au
Release ID: 89157803