The recent decision in Ostwald v Commissioner of Taxation [2026] FCA 868 highlights the challenges company directors can have in mounting a defence against a director penalty notice.
Smailes Krawitz is seeing an uptick in criminal prosecutions brought by the ATO. This includes targeting company directors for criminal liability when the company or trustee taxpayer entity has failed to lodge.
Tucked away in the Budget papers under the heading ‘Protecting the tax system against fraud’, the Government has announced that the ATO’s existing garnishee powers ‘will also be expanded to include jointly held assets in circumstances where such arrangements are being used to frustrate recovery actions.’
The proposed tax changes outlined in Labor Government’s 2026-27 Budget might mean that it is time to change the way that private groups think about structuring.
In last month’s decision of RRKC and Commissioner of Taxation, a taxpayer’s purpose and intention in entering property transactions were key to determining whether he had understated his GST and income tax liabilities arising from those sales.
The Tax Practitioner’s Board (𝗧𝗣𝗕) has clarified its position on registered tax practitioners’ breach reporting requirements in relation to the Code of Professional Conduct (𝗖𝗼𝗱𝗲).
Smailes Krawitz Associate Director, Andrew Giorgi, was recently quoted in AccountantsDaily which brings daily breaking news, analysis and insight to Australian accounting professionals. You can read the article here.
The Smailes Krawitz team is proud to be recognised by our peers as a Leading Wills & Estates Law Firm – Western Australia, 2025 in this year's Doyle's Guide.
Unusual Audit Behaviour -- ATO commences and completes a taxpayer audit, does not notify the taxpayer of the audit and takes funds from the company bank account on the day it notifies the taxpayer of the audit.
We are proud of our outstanding team at Smailes Krawitz and for the recognition of First Tier Tax Law Firm, Western Australia in the Doyle’s Guide 2025.
The judgment in Zhang vs Commissioner of Taxation appears a straightforward tax debt decision – but the Federal Court’s summary of the principles affecting garnishee notices gives pause for thought.
