Commercial and Business Law

Do you establish a business trust or company to operate your business?
Do you understand the terms of the contract you are about to sign?
Is GST payable? How can GST be avoided?
Is there a lease involved?
Is there a financial institution involved?
Is there a guarantee and indemnity involved?
Does your lending institution require a Solicitor's Certificate stating you have received legal advice on the documentation?
Can you sell your business without paying GST?
When you sell how do you obtain release from your Lease?
Can I transfer the land owned by my trust to my self?

Article

Section 36 of the Duties Act 2000 provides that no stamp duty is chargeable in respect of a transfer of land that is subject to a trust to a beneficiary if:

(a) the beneficiary was a beneficiary when the property was first vested in the trustee; and
(b) the transfer is to the beneficiary absolutely, or to the beneficiary as trustee of another trust whose beneficiaries were all beneficiaries when the property was first vested in the trustee of the first trust; and
(c) duty was paid upon the transfer of land to the trustee when the trust first acquired the land.

With sharply rising property values in the last 5 years or so and the higher incidence of land tax, given the progressive tax rates for land tax, many taxpayers who have put land into a discretionary trust have found the incidence of land tax to be prohibitive, given that discretionary trusts are denied a principal place of residence exemption from land tax.

Many taxpayers are arranging for land to be taken out of the discretionary trust, so as to be able to claim a principal place of residence exemption for land tax purposes. You should be aware of the risk that a section 36 exemption may not be granted by the SRO if the transfer of land is associated with a discharge or transfer of an existing mortgage given by the trust over the land.