ARTICLE · 13 JUNE 2011

Bamford – Where to from here?

Norton Rose Fulbright Australia

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The High Court decision in the case of Commissioner of Taxation v Bamford on 30 March 2010 did not once and for all resolve the uncertainty regarding the taxation of trusts.

AustraliaTax

David Coombes

Anna Wilson

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The High Court decision in the case of Commissioner of Taxation v Bamford on 30 March 2010 did not once and for all resolve the uncertainty regarding the taxation of trusts. It is likely that only legislative reform will be able to achieve this difficult task. Although legislative reform of the taxation of trusts was one of the recommendations of the Henry review, there is no immediate prospect of this occurring. Therefore, the continuing complexity and uncertainty must be managed.

Do existing trusts require amendments? What provisions should new trust deeds contain? In this article we summarise the key considerations following the Bamford decision and the issue of Practice Statement PSLA 2010/1 on 2 June 2010 by the Australian Taxation Office.

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