When the demerger relief was first introduced in 2002, it appeared to offer an important new means for effecting corporate reorganisations without triggering either capital gains tax or assessable dividend income. However, in practice, companies (particularly non-listed companies) are frequently confronted with the anti-avoidance rules in s 45B, which can create assessable dividend income. The recently released practice statement PS LA 2005/21 provides some examples of how the Commissioner approaches the enigmatic application of s 45B.
maintenance