‘Tis the season to be giving…or is it?

Following the abolition of gift duty on 1 October, we publish a special edition of Fineprint here.

You may be considering whether to complete your gifting programme in one fell swoop – or perhaps not.

Everyone has their own reasons for establishing a trust, and your own individual situation will be unique to you and your family. Completing your gifting programme in its entirety may not be the best step for you.

Do get in touch with us so we can talk about the best path forward for you and your particular circumstances.

Latest Trust eSpeaking

We publish the latest edition of Trust eSpeaking here.

In this edition:

• Let’s give it all way – It’s not that straightforward
  With the abolition of gift duty from 1 October 2011 the first thought for most people who have a family trust would be “Let’s give it all away”
• Rest home care – Don’t expect government hand-outs
  After gift duty comes to an end from 1 October, one thing will still be clear: you can’t give everything away to a trust and then expect to rely on state assistance because you don’t own any assets…
• Trustee Liability – As vendor under an Agreement for Sale & Purchase Trustees are the legal owners of trust property and are personally liable for warranties given under an Agreement for Sale & Purchase. Trustees should be very careful about giving warranties
• Trusts and tax – The Supreme Court has spoken Using a trust – or any other structure such as a company – to reduce your income is
  not straightforward. If you push the boundaries too hard you may end up having to pay a lot more. The latest Supreme Court decision provides a useful warning

The taxing issue of family trusts and companies

The Supreme Court has just released its judgment in the ‘Penny Hooper’ case. This case involved two doctors that worked in their own private practices. They then formed companies for which their family trusts were shareholders. Rather than the doctors receiving the full income they generated – they were paid a salary. The IRD said the salary was significantly below market value (i.e. one doctor went from $650,000 income one year to a salary of around $100,000).

The Supreme Court has said that having a salary set at a low rate to avoid paying tax is tax avoidance. However, if the salary is at a low rate for a legitimate reason (e.g. saving income for the purchase of a capital item) then this is not tax avoidance.

A more detailed summary of the decision follows and you can read the full decision here.

Latest Property Speaking

Today we publish the August 2011 edition of Property Speaking; a PDF of the newsletter is attached. We hope you find the articles of interest, and please don’t hesitate to contact us if you’d like to know more about any topic.

In this issue:

• New Unit Titles Legislation now in Force: New rules for body corporate and unit title holders
• Buyers Beware: No LIM or builder’s report?

Property briefs:

• Rest home subsidies and the abolition of gift duty
• Buying and selling a unit title property: management agreements
• Residential property developments to become acceptable investments under New Zealand Immigration investor category instructions

Latest Rural eSpeaking

Today we publish the Winter edition of Rural eSpeaking. We hope that you find the articles of interest.

In this issue:

• Beware the traps of the Abolition of Gift Duty: Don’t embark on a frenzy of gifting in October
• Improving Health and Safety on the Farm: Moral, social and economic reasons to do so
• Over the Fence: Quad bike safety guidelines – Employers to retain employment agreements – Forest owners must make decisions this year

If you need advice on any of these topics, please give us a call.

Latest Commercial eSpeaking

Here is the latest issue of Commercial eSpeaking. In this issue:

• Franchising – The Pros and Cons - Operating a franchise can be a very satisfying and profitable method of running a business. There are, however, some specific issues around franchising that are quite different from running a ‘regular’ business…
• Anti-Competitive Behaviour – Avoid it at all costs - There are often benefits for competing businesses to discuss industry related practices and issues among themselves. However, when having discussions like this, you must ensure you are not engaging (inadvertently or otherwise) in anti-competitive behaviour that could breach the Commerce Act 1986
• Business Briefs
  New copyright law
  PPSA – Australian style
  Digital legacy

Latest edition of Property Speaking

Today we publish here the May 2011 issue of Property Speaking; we hope you enjoy reading it. If you would like to talk further about any property issues, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

In this Autumn edition, you can read articles on:

• The ‘Solicitor’s Approval Clause’: it cannot be used to cancel the Agreement on a whim
• Total Destruction of Premises Subject to a Commercial Lease: what is untenantable?
• Property Briefs: Christchurch earthquake: buying property – Legislation updates – GST on land transactions

Employment law changes are now in effect

From 1 April 2011 a number of important employment law changes came into effect.

The main changes to the Holidays Act include:

• The ability for employees to cash in a maximum of one week of annual holidays (only if the employer agrees).
• Transferring public holidays to another working day.

The main changes to the Employment Relations Act include:

• Extending ‘grievance free’ trial periods to all employers
• Changes to the personal grievance provisions (to a definition more favourable for employers)
• Requiring consent to be given before a union can access a workplace, and confirming communication with employees can occur during collective bargaining.
• Requiring employers to retain employment agreements (effective from 1 July 2011)
• Extending the role and powers of labour inspectors.

To discuss how this might affect you please contact Chris Grenfell on 07 872 0877.

Changes to consumer laws likely…

Minister of Consumer Affairs John Boscawen today announced that a Consumer Law Reform Bill to strengthen consumers’ rights and simplify business compliance will be introduced to Parliament later this year.

Latest Rural eSpeaking

Here we publish the March 2011 issue of Rural eSpeaking; we hope you enjoy reading it. If you would like to talk further about any rural issues, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

In this Autumn edition, you can read articles on:

· Personal Property Securities Act: Grappling with section 53 in a livestock purchase

· Leasing the Farm: Can be a practical solution

· Over the Fence: New minimum wage rates – Sharemilking Arrangements: 2011-2-12 season – Public Holidays: Easter 2011 – GST zero-rating land transactions

The next issue of Rural eSpeaking will be published in July.