September Updates

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.