Dr Bender considers recent jurisprudence and administrative approaches through the lens of trustees, including:
- Recent scrutiny of a trustee’s discretion under the general anti-avoidance provisions (Minerva Financial Group Pty Ltd v FCT [2022] FCA 1092) and having appropriate regard to the nature and purpose of the trust and to the circumstances of potential beneficiaries (Owies and Owies v JJE Nominees Pty Ltd (ACN 004 856 366) (in its capacity as trustee for the Owies Family Trust) [2022] VSCA 142)
- The rule against perpetuities, having regard to statutory modification of the perpetuity period and whether a trust deed contained a “date certain” (Application by Perenna Nominees Pty Ltd [2022] VSC 193)
- What happened when a company bought back its shares from a trust, which then sought to distribute a fully franked dividend to a corporate beneficiary and retain an amount as corpus? (BBlood Enterprises Pty Ltd & Anor v FC of T [2022] FCA 1112); and
- Increasing regulatory focus on tax avoidance and evasion arrangements using trust structures.