The Federal Government has recently released draft legislation that will shift responsibility for paying GST on new residential premises from developers to purchasers. The proposed legislation is being introduced to target ‘phoenix operators’, who collect GST from...
This article was amended on 24 May 2018. On 26 October 2017 the Queensland Parliament passed the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 (Qld) (“BIFA”). It will commence on a date set by proclamation (which has not yet occurred). In addition to...
Since October 2016, all foreign buyers and developers are subject to a 3% stamp duty surcharge on the acquisition of residential property in Queensland known as Additional Foreign Acquirer Duty (AFAD). The Commissioner has now updated conditions under which ex gratia...
On 7 September 2017, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Housing Tax Integrity) Bill 2017 was introduced in the House of Representatives as a measure to address housing affordability issues. A key component of this legislation is the implementation of an annual...
By Peter Karcher and Sarah Cooper Our firm has an IT client who burned all of his printers and resists having to put pen to paper when he needs to sign a contract. That might seem extreme to some, but when you consider that most offices punch out enough paper to...
For those of you who are not familiar with Pinterest, it is an online pin board service where users can collect images, webpages, and product links from across the net and virtually “pin” them for later reference. Although Pinterest is free to sign up and use they...
As the saying goes: there are the things that you know; the things that you know that you don’t know (the known unknown); and the things that you don’t know that you don’t know (the unknown unknown). The recent Grenfell Tower fire tragedy in London highlights the...
Software as a service agreements explained without the sass PICTURE THIS: Sam has created a great new SaaS product and has found some early customers who are equally excited but his solution. These same customers have all asked Sam for a copy of his standard SaaS...
THE CHANGES Australian and foreign residents should be aware that as of 1 July 2017, the government has introduced changes to the Foreign Resident Capital Gains Withholding (“FRCGW”) tax rate and threshold. With an intention to crack down on foreign investors evading...
Did Pandora Radio steal PayPal’s logo in a feeble attempt to attract its visitors? Or was it just a mere coincidence? The premise behind trade mark laws is to permit companies to utilise unique identifies such as branding in order to distinguish themselves. The...
Under the Duties Act 1997 (NSW) (the “NSW Act”), a liability to duty arises once an agreement for dutiable property, such as a contract for sale and purchase of land, is entered into. Subject to certain exceptions, duty must be paid within 3 months from the liability...
It is often a misconception that the liability for transfer duty only arises once an agreement for dutiable property, such as a contract for the sale and purchase of land, becomes unconditional. Under the Duties Act 2001 (“Act”) transfer duty is imposed on an...