Course

Taxation of Trusts - ATAX0405

Faculty: Australian School of Business

School: Australian School of Taxation and Business Law

Course Outline: ATAX0405 Course Outline

Campus: ATAX Campus

Career: Postgraduate

Units of Credit: 6

EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)

Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 0

Enrolment Requirements:

Restricted to students enrolled in Programs 9250, 9255, 9260, 9270, 9200, 9210, 9230 or 5740 or 9257 or 9231 or 5231 or 9273

Excluded: ATAX0305, ATAX0505, ATAX0605

CSS Contribution Charge: 3 (more info)

Tuition Fee: See Tuition Fee Schedule

Further Information: See Class Timetable

View course information for previous years.

Description

The trust is a major form of vehicle used for holding investment assets, carrying on business, transferring family wealth to future generations and for income splitting. Furthermore, most superannuation funds are, in fact, trusts. The trust is not a distinct legal entity and is not taxed as a separate entity. The primary rule is that the beneficiary under a trust is subject to tax. Only where the beneficiary is not subject to tax will the trustee be assessed to pay tax.

This course is mainly concerned with establishing when the primary rule applies, and when it is displaced by the exceptional rules. An understanding of the specific tax treatment of trusts is important to any student setting out to acquire, or refine, an understanding of the Australian tax system.


Recommended Prior Knowledge

As in many other areas of taxation, the analysis of the tax treatment of trusts necessarily involves a consideration of capital gains tax issues. You may, accordingly, benefit from undertaking the course 0311/0411/0511/0611 Taxation of Capital Gains prior to, or concurrently with, this course.

Course Objectives

This course aims to develop and promote a knowledge of the principles and policy considerations which have particular application to the taxation of trusts, focusing mainly on discretionary trusts. It aims to develop a critical approach to the manner in which trusts are taxed and the implications of this for investors and the tax system. It instils a knowledge of the cases on the taxation of trusts and an understanding of the reasons for the various integrity measures affecting trusts.

Main Topics

  • Taxation of income of trusts
  • The trust loss measures and family trust elections
  • General anti-avoidance and other integrity measures
  • Application of capital gains tax to trusts.
  • Streaming of capital gains and franked dividends

Course Texts

Textbook lists for ATAX courses will be available from the UNSW Bookshop from 1 February for Semester 1 courses and from 1 July for Semester 2 courses.
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