The September episode of Tax Talks sees Andrew Henshaw and Rajan Verma joined by Karen Goodfellow of Goodfellow Tax Advisory to unpack the major Australian tax developments from September 2026.
The discussion begins with the exposure draft package for the proposed 30% minimum tax on discretionary trusts. The panel examines which trusts and income streams may fall outside the regime, the proposed broader definition of a fixed trust, the treatment of company beneficiaries and the complexity of adding a minimum tax framework on top of the existing trust tax rules.
The episode then turns to the proposed election allowing existing trusts to avoid the minimum tax by fixing future income and capital distributions. The panel considers the consequences of making an irrevocable election, including changes in family circumstances, corporate beneficiaries, charitable distributions, asset protection, family law and succession planning. They also review the proposed trust restructure rollover, including its all-assets approach, duty concerns and the risks of moving assets into a company.
The panel also examines the proposed innovative business CGT concession, including the holding period, registration process, Australian activity requirements, excluded industries and the challenge of maintaining eligibility through to a future CGT event.
The cases section covers the Hilton Hotels Part IVA decision and what it may mean for restructures undertaken before a sale, contemporaneous documentation and how far the ATO may look back when identifying a broader scheme. The episode concludes with a recent tax residency decision involving an engineer working in Dubai, highlighting the difficulty of severing Australian tax residency, the importance of establishing a permanent place of abode overseas and the potential CGT consequences of leaving Australia.
Across these topics, the panel returns to a practical message for accountants and advisers: understand the proposals, identify affected clients and preserve the evidence supporting important decisions, but avoid taking irreversible steps while the law remains unsettled.

The September episode of Tax Talks sees Andrew Henshaw and Rajan Verma joined by Karen Goodfellow of Goodfellow Tax Advisory to unpack the major Australian tax developments from September 2026. The discussion begins with the exposure draft package for the proposed 30% minimum tax on discretionary trusts. The panel examines which trusts and income streams may fall outside the regime, the proposed broader definition of a fixed trust, the treatment of company beneficiaries and the complexity of adding a minimum tax framework on top of the existing trust tax rules. The episode then turns to the proposed election allowing existing trusts to avoid the minimum tax by fixing future income and capital distributions. The panel considers the consequences of making an irrevocable election, including changes in family circumstances, corporate beneficiaries, charitable distributions, asset protection, family law and succession planning. They also review the proposed trust restructure rollover, including its all-assets approach, duty concerns and the risks of moving assets into a company. The panel also examines the proposed innovative business CGT concession, including the holding period, registration process, Australian activity requirements, excluded industries and the challenge of maintaining eligibility through to a future CGT event. The cases section covers the Hilton Hotels Part IVA decision and what it may mean for restructures undertaken before a sale, contemporaneous documentation and how far the ATO may look back when identifying a broader scheme. The episode concludes with a recent tax residency decision involving an engineer working in Dubai, highlighting the difficulty of severing Australian tax residency, the importance of establishing a permanent place of abode overseas and the potential CGT consequences of leaving Australia. Across these topics, the panel returns to a practical message for accountants and advisers: understand the proposals, identify affected clients and preserve the evidence supporting important decisions, but avoid taking irreversible steps while the law remains unsettled.

September Updates

Episode 5 of Tax Talks sees Andrew Henshaw and guest co-host Ani Tuna joined by Vincent Licciardi from HWLE to unpack the major tax developments from August 2026.
The discussion begins with increasing scrutiny from the ATO and Tax Practitioners Board, exploring disclosure obligations, annual registration renewals and fit and proper person requirements. The panel examines the Free decision and the risks practitioners face when outstanding tax obligations or adverse findings remain undisclosed, including where the underlying matters are disputed.
The episode then examines the second tranche of draft CGT and negative gearing measures, analysing valuation challenges, main residence issues, small business concessions and the proposed definition of a new residential dwelling. The discussion also considers foreign resident CGT reforms and changes to SMSF limited recourse borrowing arrangements, including transitional contracts, business real property and refinancing.
The panel reviews recent Victorian and New South Wales state tax cases involving windfall gains tax, property nominations and landholder duty, highlighting how contract dates and transaction sequencing can produce unexpected liabilities. The discussion also explores engagement scope, client expectations and the risks for accountants advising outside their areas of expertise.
The episode concludes with GST credits on legal and litigation costs, developments concerning Bitcoin and draft ATO guidance on crypto transactions, and the Division 293 consequences of receiving employment income in arrears. Across these topics, the panel highlights the importance of precise timing, supporting evidence and identifying risks before transactions proceed.

Episode 5 of Tax Talks sees Andrew Henshaw and guest co-host Ani Tuna joined by Vincent Licciardi from HWLE to unpack the major tax developments from August 2026. The discussion begins with increasing scrutiny from the ATO and Tax Practitioners Board, exploring disclosure obligations, annual registration renewals and fit and proper person requirements. The panel examines the Free decision and the risks practitioners face when outstanding tax obligations or adverse findings remain undisclosed, including where the underlying matters are disputed. The episode then examines the second tranche of draft CGT and negative gearing measures, analysing valuation challenges, main residence issues, small business concessions and the proposed definition of a new residential dwelling. The discussion also considers foreign resident CGT reforms and changes to SMSF limited recourse borrowing arrangements, including transitional contracts, business real property and refinancing. The panel reviews recent Victorian and New South Wales state tax cases involving windfall gains tax, property nominations and landholder duty, highlighting how contract dates and transaction sequencing can produce unexpected liabilities. The discussion also explores engagement scope, client expectations and the risks for accountants advising outside their areas of expertise. The episode concludes with GST credits on legal and litigation costs, developments concerning Bitcoin and draft ATO guidance on crypto transactions, and the Division 293 consequences of receiving employment income in arrears. Across these topics, the panel highlights the importance of precise timing, supporting evidence and identifying risks before transactions proceed.

Episode 5 of Tax Talks sees Andrew Henshaw and guest co-host Ani Tuna joined by Vincent Licciardi from HWLE to unpack the major tax developments from August 2026.
The discussion begins with increasing scrutiny from the ATO and Tax Practitioners Board, exploring disclosure obligations, annual registration renewals and fit and proper person requirements. The panel examines the Free decision and the risks practitioners face when outstanding tax obligations or adverse findings remain undisclosed, including where the underlying matters are disputed.
The episode then examines the second tranche of draft CGT and negative gearing measures, analysing valuation challenges, main residence issues, small business concessions and the proposed definition of a new residential dwelling. The discussion also considers foreign resident CGT reforms and changes to SMSF limited recourse borrowing arrangements, including transitional contracts, business real property and refinancing.
The panel reviews recent Victorian and New South Wales state tax cases involving windfall gains tax, property nominations and landholder duty, highlighting how contract dates and transaction sequencing can produce unexpected liabilities. The discussion also explores engagement scope, client expectations and the risks for accountants advising outside their areas of expertise.
The episode concludes with GST credits on legal and litigation costs, developments concerning Bitcoin and draft ATO guidance on crypto transactions, and the Division 293 consequences of receiving employment income in arrears. Across these topics, the panel highlights the importance of precise timing, supporting evidence and identifying risks before transactions proceed.

August Updates

Child support lump sum payments are often favoured by mothers and might improve the relationship between parents.

Child support lump sum payments are often favoured by mothers and might improve the relationship between parents.

391 | Child Support Lump Sum Payments

Child support non-agency payments are payments to third parties credited to a child support liability.

Child support non-agency payments are payments to third parties credited to a child support liability.

390 | Child Support Non Agency Payments

In some ways CATS Accountants is just a normal practice with a turnover of $1m. But in other ways they are quite unique and unusual.

282 | CATS Accountants

Continuing Professional Education is something we all need to do to stay registered as tax practitioners.  But there are many common misconceptions about CPE. At least our understanding of CPE was fuzzy at the best, and wrong at the worst of times. 
 
So we went to see Ian Taylor, the Chair of the Tax Practitioners Board, that reviews our CPE. We had 10 light bulb moments during this talk with Ian. Here is what we learned.

Continuing Professional Education is something we all need to do to stay registered as tax practitioners. But there are many common misconceptions about CPE. At least our understanding of CPE was fuzzy at the best, and wrong at the worst of times. So we went to see Ian Taylor, the Chair of the Tax Practitioners Board, that reviews our CPE. We had 10 light bulb moments during this talk with Ian. Here is what we learned.

Continuing Professional Education is something we all need to do to stay registered as tax practitioners.&nbsp; But there are many common misconceptions about CPE. At least our understanding of CPE was fuzzy at the best, and wrong at the worst of times. 
 
So we went to see Ian Taylor, the Chair of the Tax Practitioners Board, that reviews our CPE.&nbsp;We had 10 light bulb moments during this talk with Ian. Here is what we learned.

68 | Continuing Professional Education

We all need to decide where we stand regarding financial advice. One option is to engage a digital financial advice platform. Jim Hennington has more.

66 | Digital Financial Advice

The Code of Professional Conduct affects us all. Here is Ian Taylor, the Chair of the Tax Practitioners Board, with the details.

64 | Code Of Professional Conduct

The Code of Conduct outlines the guiding principles for everything we do in our work as tax practitioners. Falling short of the code of conduct can mean a cancellation of our registration and hence loss of our livelihood with everything that this entails. So knowing a thing or two about the Code of Conduct is vital.

64 | Code of Conduct

In April 2018 the Australian Productivity Commission published their draft report "Superannuation: Assessing Efficiency and Competitiveness". The report mainly focused on APRA funds but also touched on SMSF performance. And these comments about SMSF performance caused an outcry in the SMSF industry.

In April 2018 the Australian Productivity Commission published their draft report "Superannuation: Assessing Efficiency and Competitiveness". The report mainly focused on APRA funds but also touched on SMSF performance. And these comments about SMSF performance caused an outcry in the SMSF industry.

63 | SMSF Performance

What is legally valid when signed electronically? Christine Ecob and Georgina Xiradis of JWS will walk you through the legal framework.

62 | Electronic Signatures

The rules around property depreciation are confusing at the best of times. Bradley Beer of BMT will walk you through the ifs and whens of property depreciation.

61 | Property Depreciation

Miranda Brownlee writes for SMSF Adviser and covers over 20 stories a week, all about SMSF. We asked Miranda what happened in May. Here is what we learned.

60 | SMSF Adviser May 2018 Update

How does one register as a tax practitioner? Here is Ian Taylor, the Chair of the TPB to walk you through the process.

59 | Register As A Tax Practitioner

Property depreciation can save our clients a lot of money. But the rules around property depreciation are confusing at the best of times. So, we asked BMT Tax Depreciation to help us out. BMT prepares around 70,000 property depreciation schedules a year. So, you would think that they know a thing or two about property depreciation. Here is what we learned from them.

Property depreciation can save our clients a lot of money. But the rules around property depreciation are confusing at the best of times. So, we asked BMT Tax Depreciation to help us out. BMT prepares around 70,000 property depreciation schedules a year. So, you would think that they know a thing or two about property depreciation. Here is what we learned from them.

Property depreciation can save our clients a lot of money. But the rules around property depreciation are confusing at the best of times. So,&nbsp;we asked BMT&nbsp;Tax Depreciation&nbsp;to help us out. BMT prepares around 70,000 property depreciation schedules a year. So,&nbsp;you would think that they know a thing or two about property depreciation. Here is what we learned from them.

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