Tax Alert - Section 100A guidance now finalised

Lowe Lippmann Chartered Accountants

ATO Guidance targeting trust reimbursement agreements now finalised


The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has recently finalised its guidance in relation to trust distributions and “reimbursement agreements”. This guidance impacts all clients with family or discretionary trusts.


The final guidance contained within Taxation Ruling TR 2022/4 Income tax: Section 100A reimbursement agreements and Practical Compliance Guideline PCG 2022/2 Section 100A reimbursement agreements – ATO compliance approach has been developed to support trustees and their advisors, who have been requesting clearer guidance to help them manage their tax obligations.


The ATO guidance has been finalised following an extended consultation period with the tax community, and recommended changes have been incorporated based on this feedback.


The ATO focus surrounding Section 100A relates to trust distributions made to beneficiaries, in order to achieve a tax advantage where the funds relating to the distributions are not paid out to a beneficiary, or are in some way reimbursed back to the trustee or other parties.


Whilst these final documents do not significantly depart from the draft versions released in March 2022, which gave rise to much debate on the ATO’s renewed focus on trust arrangements (see our previous Tax Alert here), there are some notable changes (see below) and they do provide additional examples which provide further clarity for trustees and advisers as to what trust arrangements the ATO will focus their attention on.


What are the notable changes?


The finalised guidance includes a few changes to the previous draft documents, including the abolition of the “blue zone”, an expansion of “green zone scenarios” concerning distributions, in particular providing a two-year timeframe to pay distributions and the broadening of individuals/entities to whom distributions can be made with less stringent requirements to pay.


However, it is unfortunate that the final guidance still applies retrospectively to trust entitlements that arose prior to 1 July 2022 in certain circumstances.


We note that the ATO has confirmed it will not allocate any compliance resources to review any trust arrangements entered into before 1 July 2014 which are considered to be “low risk”.



What are the next steps?


Given the potential retrospective nature of this ruling, reviews of previous income years distributions may be necessary.  Furthermore, careful consideration of the appointment of trust income for the year ending 30 June 2023 and beyond will need to be adopted.


Lowe Lippmann intends to provide further guidance on managing trust distributions by explaining the most salient issues in the new year once the full implications of these changes are fully considered.


Please do not hesitate to contact your Lowe Lippmann Relationship Partner if you wish to discuss any of these matters further.


July 4, 2025
Changes to car thresholds from 1 July The car limit for the 2026 income year is $69,674. This is the highest value that a taxpayer can use to calculate depreciation on a car where they use the car for work or business purposes and they first use or lease the car in the 2026 income year. If a taxpayer is buying a car and the price is more than the car limit, the highest input tax ( GST ) credit they can claim (except in certain circumstances) is one-eleventh of the car limit. For the 2026 income year, the highest input tax credit they can claim is $6,334 (i.e. one-eleventh of $69,674). The luxury car tax ( LCT ) threshold for the 2026 income year is $91,387 for fuel-efficient vehicles, and $80,567 for all other luxury vehicles. Input tax credits need to be claimed within the four-year time limit. A taxpayer cannot claim an input tax credit for luxury car tax when they buy a luxury car, even if they use it for business purposes.
July 1, 2025
Large proprietary limited – are you one? Tips and traps for your assessment. In Australia, being classified as a large proprietary limited company means that you have to prepare, and lodge audited financial statements with ASIC under the Corporations Act 2001 (the Act), however many companies are not necessarily applying the thresholds appropriately. A proprietary company is large if it meets at least 2 of the following thresholds: Consolidated revenue ≥ $50 million Consolidated gross assets ≥ $25 million 100 or more employees. These thresholds seem simple, however some points to note: The calculations must be performed applying ALL accounting standards so even if you are preparing special purpose financial statements, then you will need to assess these thresholds as if you were applying all standards, including: AASB 16 Leases – this standard would add a right of use asset to your balance sheet potentially significantly increasing your gross assets. AASB 10 Consolidated Financial Statements – if you have controlled entities then the inclusion of their income statement and balance sheet may significantly increase each of the thresholds. AASB 128 Investments in Associates and Joint Ventures / AASB 11 Joint Arrangements – if you have entities over which you have significant influence or joint control then applying equity accounting or including your share of assets and revenue would affect the thresholds. In determining the number of employees, the Act is clear that it is all full-time and part-time employees (on a pro-rata basis), however casual employees need to be considered. For example, are they genuinely casual with varying hours / shifts each week or are they in substance a permanent member of your team but just employed on a casual basis.  The thresholds need to be met at the end of the financial year and therefore entities should track their performance during the year so they are aware if they will meet the definition of a large proprietary company at year end.
June 17, 2025
In a previous blog, we discussed the changes to the accounting standards relating to classification of current / non-current liabilities on the balance sheet. We have been receiving a number of questions on this topic and have provided some practical scenarios below as well as some actions for you as we approach 30 June reporting dates.
More Posts