In the past 12 months the Courts have handed down several landmark decisions in the fields of taxation and stamp duty law including Spriggs & Riddell, Day, Malouf, Bamford, Spry, Henschke. This event highlighted the practical implications of these and other recent decisions and in doing so answered such questions as:
- has the High Court redefined:
- the boundaries of a business and when a business expense is incurred?
- when legal and other expenses of an employee are of a private nature?
- the relationship between a trustee, appointor and beneficiary?
- have the Courts clarified (or is the Commissioner confused about) how a beneficiary is taxed on trust income?
- in what circumstances is stamp duty payable when a partner exits a continuing partnership?
Additionally this event asked whether there are any new principles emerging from these Cases and what this might tell us about future tax and stamp duty decisions.