Private Wealth and Trust Disputes Notes

Monthly Private Wealth Legal Developments - APAC

Welcome to Herbert Smith Freehills' new monthly private wealth industry updates in Asia. Every month we survey a number of Asian jurisdictions for legal …

Recent determinations by the Australian Tax Office perpetuate international tax trust morass

The Australian Tax Office has made two recent determinations which sink the law in this area into further confusion. The first draft determination, TD …

Don't forget stamp duty - lessons on Stamp Duty Liability in Hong Kong for deceased estates

Inheritance tax has been abolished in Hong Kong since 2005. However, two recent decisions illustrate that tax liability may arise in the form of stamp …

Australian Taxation Office targets investors seeking to adopt capital gains tax treatment on sale of shares

TAXING PRIVATE TRUSTS IN AUSTRALIA - A MOVING TARGET

The Australian revenue authorities have been very active recently issuing judgments, making pronouncements and intensifying enforcement activity, all …

Circular trust resolutions – family trusts to be taxed at 47% by Australian Government

Following on from the Australian Government’s announcement in the 2018-19 Budget, an Exposure Draft entitled Treasury Laws Amendment (Measures for a …

FATCA: First-ever conviction signals increased enforcement risk

The former CEO of Saint Vincent-based Loyal Bank pleaded guilty and was convicted on 11 September of conspiring to defraud the United States by failing …

Australian tax law bites trust law on franking credits

The High Court of Australia has restored sanity in a long running saga in which a trustee purported to separate franking credits from the underlying …

Australian Board of Taxation reviews residency test for individuals

On 9 July 2018, the Board of Taxation (the "Board") released its self-initiated report ‘Review of the Income Tax Residency Rules for Individuals’ (the …

Personal representative liable for inheritance tax on fully distributed estate

  The First-tier Tax Tribunal ("FTT") has provided a valuable reminder in the case of Harris v HMRC [2018] UKFTT 204 that, with limited …

The Australian Tax Office broadens its targeting of private groups

Having focused on the top 320 privately owned and wealthy groups ("Private Groups") earlier this year, the Australian Tax Office ("ATO") Tax …

Private Groups and Trusts under ATO scrutiny

The ATO in Australia continues to target privately owned and wealthy groups, with specific focus on groups with risky trust structures that exhibit …