If you're a business owner or indiviudal who has established a trust, it's crucial to understand the particular tax responsibilities associated with maintaing the trust. Among these, annually lodging the trust tax return with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is paramount. Your trust tax return provides essential details about the trust's earnings, expenses, tax credits, and other financial particulars necessary for the ATO to evaluate the trust's tax obligations.

At Causbrooks, we're committed to guiding you through every step, making sure that your trust fulfills its tax obligations without any hassle.

At Causbrooks, we recognise the importance of accurate and timely trust tax return filing. Our team is dedicated to ensuring that your trust's tax responsibilities are managed efficiently, offering you both compliance and peace of mind.

Keeping up with your tax responsibilities is key for any business owner in Australia to avoid fines and stay compliant. It's important to know when your company tax return is due for hassle-free financial management. Here's what you need to mark on your calendar:

Making a Family Trust Election (FTE) is a decision that should be carefully considered, especially if the trust's main goal is to stream franking credits to beneficiaries or if the trust has revenue losses.

It's important to remember that making a Family Trust Election (FTE) does not necessarily mean distributions can be made to every member of the family group; the trustee must refer to the trust deed to ensure that each person meets the definition of a beneficiary.

Other factors that may impact an effective distribution from a family trust include the trustee's power to determine income, the power to stream income and the trust's definition of beneficiaries. If you have any questions regarding Family Trust Elections (FTEs) or the operation of your family trust, it's recommended you seek legal advice. For more information about Family Trust Elections, read our article Understanding Family Trust Election in Australia.

Section 100A (S.100A) is a provision in the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 and is an anti-avoidance rule. It applies to a situation where one person receives a benefit from a trust, but another person is made presently entitled to income and assessed. This rule is triggered when the present entitlement is connected to an agreement, arrangement or understanding, a benefit is provided to someone else, and at least one party had a purpose of reducing or deferring income tax.

If Section 100A applies, the beneficiary’s entitlement is disregarded and the trustee is assessed on the beneficiary’s share of the trust's taxable income at the top marginal rate. For more information about how Section 100A may impact your family trust, see our series of articles on Section 100A: Family Trust Distributions: ATO New Guidelines for Section 100A, Section 100A changes: trust distributions to the controllers of a discretionary trust, Section 100A changes: trust distributions to adult children and grandparents.

At Causbrooks, our focus is on making the trust tax return process straightforward for business owners and investors alike. With our comprehensive experience we ensure your trust tax returns are handled efficiently and meet all ATO standards.

The lodgement due dates for trust tax returns are as follows:

Keeping on top of your trust tax payment dates in Australia is crucial for maintaining a hassle-free financial management process. We have outlined the key payment deadlines, which vary depending on when your submission is completed: