{"id":651902,"date":"2026-05-05T21:32:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T21:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/651902\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T21:32:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T21:32:12","slug":"cpa-australia-warns-on-resurrecting-alps-2019-tax-package","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/651902\/","title":{"rendered":"CPA Australia warns on resurrecting ALP\u2019s 2019 tax package"},"content":{"rendered":"

Home<\/a> > Accounting<\/a> > CPA Australia warns on resurrecting ALP\u2019s 2019 tax package<\/p>\n

\"Mike <\/p>\n

Mike Taylor<\/p>\n

Managing Editor and Publisher<\/p>\n

6 May 2026<\/p>\n

\"Hands<\/p>\n

Just a week out from the Federal Budget major accounting group CPA Australia has made clear its strong opposition to suggestions the Government intends imposing a 30% minimum tax on trust distributions.<\/p>\n

The accounting group has labelled such a measure as a \u201crevenue grab\u201d and called on the Government to release full design details and to initiate consultation with the tax profession.<\/p>\n

It said a 30% minimum tax on trust distributions represents a blunt measures that will materially affect small businesses and families while creating uncertainty just days out from the tabling of the Budget.<\/p>\n

CPA Australia Tax Lead, Jenny Wong said the timing was already fuelling anxiety and speculation among businesses, investors and advisers.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo float the idea of taxing trusts one week out from the Federal Budget is unfair to the millions of Australians who use and are beneficiaries of trusts,\u201d Ms Wong said.<\/p>\n

\u201cCPA Australia supports a fair and sustainable tax system, including targeted measures to address inappropriate tax minimisation. However, the lack of clarity around what the 30% tax would entail is causing panic and uncertainty \u2013 this is poor policy development.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt also looks like a revenue grab, particularly as the Treasurer has advised there will be no income tax cuts or other benefits to the Australian public as the result of changes to the tax system.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrusts are a legitimate and long-standing structure used by small businesses, farmers, tradies, professionals and investors for asset protection, succession planning and commercial risk management,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Wong said media reports suggested the policy could be implemented via a non-refundable withholding regime applying a minimum 30% rate to trust distributions.<\/p>\n

This would materially alter after-tax outcomes and risks landing hardest on middle\u2011income Australians and smaller business operators, she said<\/p>\n

\u201cAn effective personal income tax rate of 30 per cent typically applies to taxable income nearing $200,000, yet millions of middle\u2011income Australians receive trust distributions as part of normal business and investment activity,\u201d Wong said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLow- and middle\u2011income recipients would end up paying more tax than if they earned that income directly, while most companies are taxed at 25 per cent and refundable franking credits apply to dividend earnings.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo impose a blanket rate that sits at the higher end of tax rates in Australia isn\u2019t about restoring equity \u2013 it risks introducing a punitive regime.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTrusts are not easily unwound and have a multitude of non\u2011tax purposes for their establishment. They are sitting ducks for the government to raise revenue, and the sudden imposition of a high tax rate on assets trapped in these structures is an unreasonable proposition.\u201d<\/p>\n

CPA Australia warned that introducing major new trust tax settings before addressing existing complexity would compound compliance burdens for businesses and advisers \u2013 particularly around family trust election rules.<\/p>\n

\u201cSmall businesses and their advisers are already grappling with the growing complexity of trust taxation rules, particularly the family trust election rules. Fixing known issues in the current family trust rules should be the priority. Including allowing genuine mistakes to be corrected and ensuring outcomes are proportionate,\u201d Ms Wong said.<\/p>\n

Wong noted that a similar minimum tax concept was debated previously and ultimately not progressed, reflecting the sensitivity and complexity of trust reform.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a new policy concept. A similar proposal to apply a minimum tax rate to trust distributions was taken to the 2019 Federal Election but was ultimately not pursued,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat history reflects the complexity and sensitivity of trust taxation reform. Trusts are not exclusively used by high\u2011wealth individuals \u2013 they are embedded across Australia\u2019s small business and family enterprise landscape.<\/p>\n

\u201cChanges like this cannot be dumped on an unsuspecting public with no details, no consultation, no modelling and no transparency. It didn\u2019t work in 2019 and it doesn\u2019t work now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wong said if the government proceeds, it must publish full design details and undertake genuine consultation, including modelling of impacts on small and medium\u2011sized businesses and the broader economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cTax reform should not be driven solely by revenue objectives,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Home > Accounting > CPA Australia warns on resurrecting ALP\u2019s 2019 tax package Mike Taylor Managing Editor and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":651903,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[233864,64,63,16518,40490,315281,44,39934,25231],"class_list":["post-651902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-budget2026","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-compliance","tag-consultation","tag-cpa-australia","tag-news","tag-taxation","tag-trusts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=651902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/651903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=651902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=651902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=651902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}