Family law’s unintended tax implications – 2019 Barossa Convention

Relationship breakdowns are
challenging even before the tax implications are considered, but proper
planning can help avoid and reduce the unintentional trigger of tax
liabilities.

At this year’s Barossa
Convention, local and credited speaker Briony Hutchens, CTA from DW Fox Tucker
will present a technical session on ‘Family Law’ which will focus on the
complications that can be encountered from a tax perspective when dealing with
a relationship breakdown.


We spoke to Briony about what to
expect from her session. She said attendees will ‘understand that achieving the
financial outcomes desired by parties in a property settlement following a
relationship breakdown can be complicated and costly from a tax perspective but
with proper planning the tax implications can be minimised’.

Briony goes on to explain that
the potential blind spot and trap in this area is a ‘wide discretion under
family law to look through structures when considering property settlements
following a relationship breakdown which can result in transfers or other
dealings with assets that achieve the desired result from a financial point of
view but which unintentionally trigger tax liabilities that could be avoided or
reduced with proper planning’.

Specific related areas that
Briony will delve into include: Division 126-A Rollovers, stamp duty
exemptions, dealing with superannuation interests and division of assets held
in family trusts. Delegates will get practical tips and information about these
issues that should be considered and different strategies that can be
implemented to assist clients who are going through a relationship breakdown to
achieve the desired financial outcome and extract value from various entities
without triggering significant tax liabilities.
Briony Hutchens, CTA



A regular speaker at Tax Institute events,
Briony is a director in the Tax Team at DW Fox Tucker Lawyers.
  She acts for a wide range of clients,
predominantly SMEs and high net worth individuals, in relation to most federal
and state taxes and in a wide range of matters, including transactional
matters, advices and disputes.
  Briony
also specialises in superannuation and estate and succession planning. When
she’s not knee deep in tax, two young daughters keep Briony very busy!
  But when she gets the chance Briony likes to
read and see bands and hopefully will make it to New Zealand this year to go
snowboarding – knee deep in snow not tax!

Prior to Briony’s
presentation, Sessions 3-6 will be based around a case study focusing on
specific tax and legal aspects of a business group through time. Some of SA’s
leading tax practitioners: Paul Tanti, CTA, Peter Slegers, CTA, Nick Wilkins,
CTA, Tim Clifton, Alistair Hutson, CTA and Toni Harrington will be joined by
Simon Haines, FTI who will provide special commentary from the ATO’s
perspective. Find
out more about Briony’s session and the rest of the program on our website.

The Barossa Convention takes
place 2-4 May 2019, it is South Australia’s pre-eminent tax event. Increase
your tax knowledge and experience the iconic Barossa Valley. Early bird rates
available until 22 March. Register
now to secure your spot.

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