ARTICLE · 11 JUNE 2009

Trust Deed Trumps All: The Bamford Decision

Moore Australia

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On Wednesday the 3rd of June a collective sigh of relief could be felt (if not actually heard) amongst the tax community as the Full Federal Court handed down its much anticipated decision regarding Bamford v Commissioner of Taxation [2009] FCAFC 66 (“Bamford”).

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Stephen O'Flynn

Simon Tucker

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On Wednesday the 3rd of June a collective sigh of relief could be felt (if not actually heard) amongst the tax community as the Full Federal Court handed down its much anticipated decision regarding Bamford v Commissioner of Taxation [2009] FCAFC 66 ("Bamford").

In a nutshell, the Federal Court was tasked with determining the proper construction of section 97 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 ("ITAA 1936"), which states:"

"...where a beneficiary of a trust estate who is not under any legal disability is presently entitled to a share of the income of the trust estate; the assessable income of the beneficiary shall include so much of that share of the net income of the trust estate..."

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