Discretionary Trust Distributions

This leading title examines the considerations that arise in relation to the making of distributions of income out of a typical discretionary trust. Covering the "streaming", anti-avoidance and primary producer trust amendments and much more, this title is an essential resource for trust practitioners looking to understand the ramifications of these distributions.

The online version of Discretionary Trust Distributions has been completely revised as at 1 June 2017. The revised version takes into account recent developments that have occurred, including:

• the decision of the Full Federal Court in the Thomas case, which concerned the effect of a Supreme Court order relating to the purported distribution of franking credits separately from the dividends;
• issues that arise out of a power of amendment conferred by a discretionary trust deed, including the extension of the vesting date;
• the Commissioner’s view of how an amount included in a beneficiary’s assessable income under s 99B ITAA97 is to be treated where the amount had its origin in a capital gain from non-taxable Australian property of a foreign trust; and
• a taxpayer alert issued by the Commissioner in relation toarrangements designed to exploit the proportionate approach to the taxation of trust income.

The prevalence of the use of discretionary trusts means that practitioners must keep up to date with developments that occur, not only for the purpose of making distributions of income, but also for the purpose of ensuring that the particular trust deed in fact achieves all that is desired.