18 August 2025 to 22 August 2025
Weekly Bulletin Contents
TAX
Monday 18 August 2025
Trust resolutions invalid: OS beneficiary not entitled to “interest” income
Two beneficiaries of a family trust involved in property development have been unsuccessful in showing that they received distribution of millions of dollars in interest income from the trust – in circumstances where one of the beneficiaries was a foreign resident and that, therefore, less tax would be paid on the distributions (by way of withholding tax). Instead, the ART found that the purported trust resolutions which gave rise to the alleged distributions were not valid as the resolutions did not record anything that had been resolved or decided by trustee prior to 30 June. In any event, the ART said that even if the applicants had established this matter, it would have found that they had not discharged the onus of showing that the income of the trust was truly interest income. Accordingly, default beneficiaries of the trust were entitled to the relevant trust income in accordance with trust deed. (The Trustee for Goldenville Family Trust A/C Xiangming Huang and FCT (Taxation) [2025] ARTA 1355, 13 August 2025.)
Commissioner addresses ATO employees at Corporate Plan launch
The Commissioner of Taxation has addressed ATO employees at the Corporate Plan 2025–26 launch. The topics discussed included: ATO Corporate Plan, focus areas, and ATO Vulnerability Framework. The full address can be found here.
ATO reminder: Activity statement lodgments
The ATO has advised that it will be sending some employers a reminder to lodge their activity statements. The reminder will include the amounts we have on record for them, such as: PAYG withheld amounts reported through Single Touch Payroll; any other pre-filled amounts, including GST instalments and PAYG instalments; and a timeframe for your clients to review and if necessary, correct the amounts we have on record for them and lodge their activity statements. The ATO also said that if your clients don’t lodge by this date, it will consider the amounts we have on record are correct and complete and may finalise their activity statement and consider it lodged unless they have any other obligations, such as GST, to report.
Tuesday 19 August 2025
ATO: Responding to a super-commutation authority
A reminder has been issued that when a Commissioner’s commutation authority (CCA) is issued, you must notify the ATO within 60 days using the correct reporting event and by lodging the transfer balance account report (TBAR). The ATO said that if you don’t respond within 60 days of the notice, your member’s income stream stops being in retirement phase – and that this means the fund, that fails to comply with the CCA, can’t claim an earnings tax exemption for this income stream in the income year or any later income years.
Vic: New commercial and industrial property tax guidance
The State Revenue Office of Victoria has released updated information about recent changes to the commercial and industrial property tax (CIPT) as part of the State Taxation Acts Amendment Act 2025. The changes include: when the Commissioner can make a provisional determination that a property has a ‘qualifying use’ where a property has no allocated Australian Valuation Property Classification Code; and what happens to CIPT property that is subdivided.
ATO: What a private ruling can be used for
The ATO has issued a reminder that a private ruling can cover anything involved in the application of a relevant provision of a tax law, including issues relating to: liability; administration; procedure and collection; and ultimate conclusions of fact (such as residency status). The ATO also advices to see TR 2006/11 Private rulings for more information.
Wednesday 20 August 2025
TPB releases its 2025–26 corporate plan
The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) has released its 2025–26 corporate plan. The plan states that its key activity is to increase trust and confidence in the tax and regulatory system by supporting the profession and taking proportionate action to address those practitioners who do the wrong thing.
ATO: Latest focus area for small business
The ATO has published its latest small business focus area. As part of an ongoing ‘Getting it right’ campaign, the ATO will continue to focus on non-compliant behaviours and supports businesses in meeting their tax and super obligations. Specifically, the focus area for this quarter is the property and construction industry – especially income reporting, expense claims and GST registration compliance.
ATO: Worldwide income – don’t overlook it
The ATO has issued a reminder that when preparing your clients’ tax returns, make sure to check if they’ve earned income from overseas. All foreign income must be converted to Australian dollars and reported in their returns. The ATO also said that if your clients have paid tax on that income in another country, they may be entitled to a foreign income tax offset.
Thursday 21 August 2025
New TD: Div 7A and disregarding payments per s 109R
The ATO has released TD 2025/5 Income tax: disregarding certain payments under section 109R of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 in determining how much of a loan has been repaid in situations where notional loans are involved. It sets out the ATO’s view about the interaction of sections 109R, 109T and 109W of the ITAA 1936, specifically whether s 109R can operate to disregard loan repayments in cases where there is a notional deemed loan because of ss 109T and 109W. It applies both before and after its date of issue.
New PCG: Restructures, thin capitalisation and debt deduction
The ATO has released PCG 2025/2 Restructures and the thin capitalisation and debt deduction creation rules – ATO compliance approach. It sets out the ATO’s compliance guidance on the Commissioner’s application of Pt IVA of the ITAA 936 and the debt deduction creation rules’ specific anti-avoidance provision (s 820-423D of the ITAA 1997) to certain restructures in response to the Treasury Laws Amendment (Making Multinationals Pay Their Fair Share–Integrity And Transparency) Act 2024. It includes a risk assessment framework to assist taxpayers self-assess their restructures against low and high risk restructures and when the Commissioner will devote compliance resources. The PCG applies to restructures entered into from 22 June 2023.
Updates to Miscellaneous Tax Rulings re penalties
Addenda have been released for the following Miscellaneous Tax Rulings relating to penalties:
- MT 2008/1A4 – Addendum (Penalty relating to statements: meaning of reasonable care, recklessness and intentional disregard) – which includes changes to the ATO’s view on the meaning of “recklessness”;
- MT 2008/2A7 – Addendum (Shortfall penalties: administrative penalty for taking a position that is not reasonably arguable) – which includes changes to the reasonably arguable threshold where a partner makes a statement which is not reasonably arguable and there is a shortfall amount;
- MT 2012/3A4 – Addendum (Administrative penalties: voluntary disclosures) – which includes changes where an entity voluntarily tells the Commissioner in the approved form about a shortfall amount etc before audit etc
The Addenda apply from 1 January 2024.
Practice Statements re penalties updated
The following Practice Statement Law Administration ruling dealing with penalties have been updated:
- PS LA 2005/2 (Penalty for failure to keep or retain records) – including insertion of record-keeping requirements for minimum tax law;
- PS LA 2011/15 (Lodgment obligations, due dates and deferrals) – including: an updated list of multiple reports being required for Public CBC in the circumstance where an entity has to correct a material error; and statement that certain global and domestic minimum tax lodgment obligations cannot be deferred;
- PS LA 2011/19 (Administration of the penalty for failure to lodge on time) – including insertion of minimum tax lodgment obligations;
- PS LA 2012/4 (Administration of the false or misleading statement penalty – where there is no shortfall amount) – including that for minimum tax law rules, the Base Penalty Amount is taken to be doubled; and
- PS LA 2012/5 (Administration of the false or misleading statement penalty – where there is a shortfall amount) – including that for minimum tax law rules, the Base Penalty Amount is taken to be doubled.
FRIDAY 22 August 2025
DIS: Recovery of wrongful payments made by ATO
The ATO has released its final Decision Impact Statement (DIS) in relation to the decision of the County Court of Victoria in DCT v MWB Accountants Pty Ltd [2019] VCC 1516 (MWB Accountants). In that case the Court held that s 8AAZN of the TAA 1953 could not be used by the ATO to recover amounts from a tax agent that the ATO had paid to the agent in circumstances where the agent had lodged BASs for a taxpayer without the taxpayer’s knowledge, claiming credits to which the taxpayer was not entitled. This resulted in refunds being paid into the bank account of the tax agent (which had been nominated by the taxpayer for receipt of payments on account of the taxpayer from the ATO).
ATO: Crypto factsheet
The ATO has released a Tax and crypto asset investments factsheet to help your clients prepare this tax time. The factsheet includes examples of different crypto disposals resulting in capital gains tax obligations, and tips on what records they need to keep.
ASIC warning: make informed investment decisions
ASIC has repeated its warning to Australians to make informed investment decisions after new data revealed a sharp rise in the number of complaints affecting retail investors. Newly released figures highlight ASIC received 7,561 reports of misconduct from 1 January 2025 to 30 June 2025, raising 11,060 issues. Of this, 5,909 reported issues fell into the financial services and retail investor category, which includes credit issues, license obligations, and other conduct related to advice, insurance, and misleading and deceptive or unconscionable behaviour.
ATO: Private health insurance – update income tier?
The ATO has issued a reminder that as the percentage of private health insurance rebate that your client receives depends on their income level and their age, if your client’s income has changed, encourage them to let their health insurer know. Otherwise, they may be in the wrong income tier and get the wrong rebate. This could cost them at tax time with a smaller refund.
SUPER & FINANCIAL SERVICES
Centrelink rates and thresholds indexed from 20 September 2025
The Department of Social Security (DSS) have released the rates and thresholds that will apply from 20 September 2025.
The maximum Age Pension (including supplements) will increase from $1,149.00 (single) to $1,178.70 per fortnight and from $866.10 (each member of a couple) to $888.50 per fortnight. This will lead to a change in the asset and income test thresholds cut-off thresholds as follows.
Asset test – 20 September 2025
| Homeowner | Non-homeowner | |||
| Full pension | Cut-off | Full pension | Cut-off | |
| Single | $321,500 | $714,500 | $579,500 | $972,500 |
| Couple | $481,500 | $1,074,000 | $739,000 | $1,332,000 |
Income test – 20 September 2025
| Full pension | Cut-off | |
| Single | $218 (per fortnight) | $2,575 (per fortnight) |
| Couple (combined) | $380 (per fortnight) | $3,934 (per fortnight) |
Deeming rates
Starting 20 September 2025, deeming rates will rise. The lower rate, applicable to financial assets up to $64,200 for singles or $106,200 for couples, will increase from 0.25% to 0.75%. The rate for assets above these thresholds will rise from 2.25% to 2.75%.
Institute of Financial Professionals Australia (IFPA) Comment
The rise in rates and thresholds could result in clients being eligible for a higher Centrelink benefit or qualifying for a benefit, such as the Age Pension, that they were previously ineligible for. This is an ideal time to review clients’ entitlements and adjust their projected cash flow accordingly.
APRA 2025–26 corporate plan: super under the microscope
APRA have released their 2025–26 Corporate Plan which sets a four-year direction with 12–18 month priorities. For superannuation, the emphasis is on retirement outcomes, expenditure discipline and platform product governance, alongside governance and operational-resilience uplift. APRA’s key priorities include:
- Retirement income covenant pulse check (with ASIC) in 2025–26 to assess trustees’ retirement strategies and progress.
- Expenditure under the microscope: APRA will intensify supervision of fund-level spend to ensure best-financial-interests; remediation expected where gaps are found.
- Platform products review: targeted assessment of trustees’ governance and oversight of investment options on platforms (due diligence, onboarding, monitoring, removals).
- Retirement data uplift: new retirement reporting framework (with Treasury) slated to commence in 2027. Retirement product data to be integrated into the 2026 Comprehensive Product Performance Package (CPPP).
IFPA Comment
The paper also provides a superannuation snap shot providing details of industry statistics including average member balances as follows:
| Average member balance by age | |
| 45 – 49 | $137,037 |
| 50 – 54 | $172,040 |
| 55 – 59 | $212,918 |
| 60 – 64 | $242,127 |
| 65 – 69 | $266,817 |