Werribee Legal Service

01/03/2022

04/08/2021

Introducing Werribee Legal Service.

Werribee Legal Service is complimented by our tax practice . Werribee Accounting has been running for 29 years and we are now thrilled to announce our new branch Werribee Legal Service.

Offering services in but not limited too, estate planning, business law, taxation law and debt recovery.

Offering tax, accounting and legal services takes the need out of having to visit various practitioners.

We are a one stop shop.

12/02/2020

A trust structure, particularly a family or discretionary trust, is often used to own real property.

Some benefits include:
- Assets may be quarantined away from (particularly) business risk;
- Full capital gains tax concessions may be available to beneficiaries of the trust on the eventual resale of the property;
- Income of the trust may be distributed tax effectively to beneficiaries over the life of the trust; and
- Property may continue to be owned by successive generations.

However:
If you intend buying property in Victoria in the name of a trust, from 1 March 2020, all discretionary trusts that do not explicity exclude foreign beneficiaries will be liable to FAPD, which is currently calculated as 8% of the dutiable value of a property.

This means that if you purchase a property at a price of $500,000, your trust may be required to pay an extra $40,000 FAPD in addition to stamp duty otherwise payable.

In order to avoid the imposition of FAPD, it will be necessary to vary the terms of the trust deed to exclude foreign beneficiaries from every class of beneficiary. Variations of a trust deed need to be carefully drafted to ensure that the variation does not constitute a resettlement of the trust, with the resultant imposition of capital gains tax, even thought your trust may still own the property.

We can assist you in:
- Determining whether your trust is at risk of being assessed as a foreign trust;
- Preparing a Deed of Variation of Trust to ensure the FAPD will not be deemed payable by your trust; and
- Ensuring that a trust resettlement does not occur.

Contact us for further information.

06/08/2019

Join us in welcoming Angela Sgambaro to the legal fraternity - and to HanneberyLaw ...
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08/07/2019

The Supreme Court of NSW has determined that a trustee who was appointed to the fund while acting as power of attorney for their father did not cease to be a trustee following the death of their father.