News Articles

Payroll tax for medicos: is the position now certain?

A decision by the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales appears to provide certainty for the payroll tax obligations of operators of medical, dental and allied health practices.

It has long been thought that the payments by medical, dental and allied health practices practice to healthcare providers, where structured properly, were not subject to payroll tax. However, this view has proven to be mistaken over the last 4 years, although it has been unclear whether all medical, dental and allied health practices are caught, irrespective of how they structure their arrangements.

Are you across the new paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave laws and regulations?

New legislation allowing full-time, part-time and casual employees access to 10 days of paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave (FDVL) applies for large businesses from today, 1 February 2023. What does this mean for employers?

Workplace RelationsLauren CantFebruary 1, 2023Dean Schubert

Directors and officers be warned! Don't be the next Star example

ASIC has provided a stark reminder to directors and officers that they can be held personally liable for company conduct after ASIC commenced proceedings in the Federal Court against 11 current and formers directors and officers of The Star Entertainment Group Limited (Star).

ASIC is seeking penalties which attract a maximum fine of $1.05 million per breach as well as declarations and disqualification orders against the Star directors and officers.

Know your privacy obligations - or penalties may apply

People are coming increasingly aware and concerned about the protection of their personal information. Given the latest cybercrime attacks on Optus and Medibank, the Federal Government is seeking to increase penalties for privacy breaches. Do you know your privacy obligations and do you have the appropriate privacy protections in place?

Corporate & Commercial, Compliance & CorporateLauren CantNovember 23, 2022Gena Kawaguchi, Hannah Tran

No power to vary trust deed? Section 86A to the rescue!

It is often necessary to vary a trust deed for various reasons. The problem is that sometimes, particularly with older trusts, the deed does not provide the trustee with the power to vary the deed or the power is not sufficiently broad to make the necessary amendment.

Fortunately the Trustee Act 1925 (NSW) now provides trustees facing such a situation with an alternative option."

Get it right or pay the (much higher) price! Increased penalties for Competition and Consumer Law breaches and new penalties for Unfair Contract Terms

Parliament has now passed the much anticipated changes to competition and consumer laws which means businesses will now face higher penalties for beach of competition and consumer laws and new penalties for unfair contract terms.

High Court affirms asset protection strategy – one rule for husbands, another for wives

A common asset protection strategy for professionals and "at risk" individuals is to put the family home in the sole name of their "non-at-risk" spouse to protect the property from creditors.

This relies on an ancient principle known as the 'presumption of advancement'. In a bygone era, any amount paid by a husband to or for the benefit of his wife, was presumed to be a gift (unless there was evidence of a contrary intention).

TaxLauren CantOctober 19, 2022Suzie Boulous, Rachel Vijayaraj

Employee Share Schemes just got easier, but watch the traps

Employee Share Schemes are about to be simpler to administer as regulations announced in the Federal Budget for 2022-23 come into effect. These changes include changes to disclosure requirements and removal of a taxing point for leaving employees.

Corporate & Commercial, TaxLauren CantSeptember 29, 2022Jane Harris, Amanda Comelli