Published analysis and commentary from other researchers, professional bodies, and journalists on this policy area — added once we've located and reviewed it, never automatically.
850,000 family trusts face $2.8b advice bill under proposed tax regime
CPA Australia — CPA Australia argues the measure reaches far more taxpayers than Treasury's costing suggests, 850,000 discretionary trusts lodge a return each year, not the 350,000 small businesses Treasury modelled, with every trustee having to decide whether to elect out. CPA Australia estimates the cost of professional advice alone at $2 to $2.8 billion, separate from any tax payable.
BDO: base the tax on genuine trustee discretion, and stop income being taxed twice
BDO — BDO recommends the minimum tax turn on whether a trustee has genuine, substantive discretion over who receives trust income, rather than relying on the existing fixed trust definition, and proposed a credit mechanism to prevent the same income being taxed multiple times as it moves through a structure.
NTAA: a $229,320 floor for individuals, a 69.71% ceiling for companies
NTAA (National Tax & Accountants' Association) — NTAA's modelling shows a beneficiary needs taxable income of $229,320 before the minimum tax offset is fully usable, meaning the tax bears most heavily on modest and middle incomes. It also finds corporate beneficiaries face double taxation that can push the effective tax rate on trust income as high as 69.71%.
Grant Thornton: the design can be punitive even with no tax planning at all
Grant Thornton Australia — Grant Thornton warns the current design could produce punitive outcomes even where there's no complex tax planning or avoidance involved, undermining the policy's own stated intent.
COSBOA: 210,000 of 350,000 trust-run small businesses could pay more tax
COSBOA (Council of Small Business Organisations Australia) — COSBOA estimates roughly 210,000 of the 350,000 small businesses using discretionary trusts could face a higher tax burden, and calls for the measure to be rejected in its current, structure based form.
The Tax Institute to Treasury: rewrite trust tax as a whole, and consult again before any Bill
The Tax Institute — The Tax Institute says reform is overdue but that fixing one issue in isolation risks complicating an already complex area, and urges Treasury not to introduce the Bill before further consultation. Its modelling of $100,000 of trust income shows total tax of 60% if a company retains it and 77% if it is later franked out to a top-rate shareholder, against a stated 30% objective.
