Cudoos to Jacinda Arden – you are one amazing leader!

Cudoos to Jacinda Arden – you are one amazing leader!

It’s official…Jacinda Arden is Nautilus’ pick for leader of the year. 

This amazing human being is a mum of a young bub, prime minister of New Zealand, she led a nation through a tragic terrorist attack,  she protected her masses through the Covid-19 pandemic, she soothed families and a nation mourning after a volcano disaster took many souls and now…she has conducted a press conference in an earthquake. 

The world needs more cool, caring leaders  – like Jacinda! 

We at Nautilus – just want to give a shout out to Jacinda and say – thanks…thanks for finding positivity in bleakness, thanks for showing empathy in times of turmoil, thanks for showing perseverance against criticism and thanks for demonstrating humour under pressure.  We aspire to be a bit more like Jacinda!

Thank you to Australian Associated Press for their article:  https://www.news.com.au/world/breaking-news/wellington-shakes-to-58-earthquake/news-story/93d518f37f242b5c09d4ef6ed6e7a37e 

 

Telemarketers and False Advertising: What to do about it if you have entered into a Contract?

Telemarketers and False Advertising: What to do about it if you have entered into a Contract?

Telemarketers got the best of you?  

We have all received those uninvited telephone calls from someone desperately trying to sell us goods and/or services – often during dinner with the family or at the most inconvenient time possible.

At Nautilus Law Group, we have heard many stories of people agreeing to enter into contracts for goods and/or services as a result of an uninvited phone call, to later find out that the promises which were made to them by the person on the phone are not what they contracted for once they receive the goods or services.

These types of contracts may include a contract to join a program which claims to provide personalised training for property investment or wealth advice, for savings on electricity or natural gas, for home improvements, among many other possible contracts of the like.

The contract agreed to may be expensive and often after the call or even after endorsement of a contract for goods and services unsolicited, the consumer finds those promises evaporate and reality hits that they agreed to an inappropriate arrangement.

What can you do about it?

The Australian Consumer Law provides protections for situations such as this. If the contract for goods and/or services costs more than $100 but less than $40,000, and the contract was made as a result of an uninvited telephone call or an uninvited sale at your doorstep, it is likely that the contract is an unsolicited consumer agreement and specific protections will apply.

These protections include the seller being legally required to send you a copy of the contract within 5 business days after the telephone call, which must clearly state a cooling off period, and include a Notice of Termination which can be used by you to terminate the contract during the cooling off period.

There are further protections in the Australian Consumer Law which impose guarantees that goods be of acceptable quality, match any demonstration model or sample you inspected, be fit for the purpose the business told you it would be fit for and any purpose that you made known to the business before purchasing, and come with full title and ownership. In respect to offers for services (such as personalised wealth planning or property investment classes) the services must be provided with acceptable care and skill or technical knowledge, be fit for the purpose or give the results that you and service provider had agreed to, and the services provider must take all necessary steps to avoid loss and damage to you.

If you have entered into a contract for goods and/or services as a result of an uninvited telephone call or sale at your doorstep, or the goods and services do not meet the guarantees outlined in this article, you may have remedies under the Australian Consumer Law.

If you are unhappy with goods or services you have purchased and require some legal advice, please do not hesitate to contact Tyler Smith of Nautilus Law Group at Tyler@nautiluslaw.com.au or phone 07 5574 3560. We will be happy to assist!

https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/sales-delivery/telemarketing-door-to-door-sales/unsolicited-consumer-agreements#unsolicited-consumer-agreements

https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/sales-delivery/telemarketing-door-to-door-sales

https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees/consumer-guarantees

Ouch – big tax mistake – home office and CGT

Ouch – big tax mistake – home office and CGT

CGT and the small business home office – big tax mistakes

The amount of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) you will be required to pay when you sell your home is calculated by multiplying the gross capital gains on the sale of your home by the percentage of business use over the period of ownership.  To illustrate, if your home is sold for $800,000, but you invested $600,000 between acquisition costs and repairs – and you have deducted 5% of the costs of the home for your “business use” over a period of the 5 out of 10 years you have held the home – then your assessable capital gains will be calculated as follows:  [($800,000-$600,000) x 0.05] x [10/5] = $5,000.

Caution needs to be had when opting to claim business expenses in respect to your home, via your annual business tax return. Although you are able to claim back a portion of your interest costs and other hold costs for the percentage of business use in your home, the loss of capital gains exemption for that part of the home may not justify the short term savings.

The ATO provides helpful tools for business owners to assist in assessing their personal circumstances and capital gains.  Please click the following link to check out the tools offered by the ATO: ATO planning templates and tools.

Nautilus Law Group assists business owners in assessing and designing business and personal wealth structures, and consideration of capital gains tax is one of the services we offer.

If you are running a home office and have questions about your structure, please do not hesitate to contact our team to arrange a conference by emailing info@nautiluslaw.com.au or phoning our enquiries manager – Vicki on 07 5574 3550.

Unintentionally Bound: the Case of Informal Agreements in Commercial Tenancy Ventures

Unintentionally Bound: the Case of Informal Agreements in Commercial Tenancy Ventures

It comes as a surprise to clients when, on occasion, they find themselves either subject to, or trying to enforce, “informal agreements”.  Informal agreements may come in the form of an exchange of discussions in respect to an arrangement, or a signed Lease Offer.  It may be that the informal agreement is a sword for a client (for example, the client wants to push the arrangement in the absence of a written contract signed by the parties), or a shield for a client (for example, the client wants to avoid the arrangement because there was no written contract signed by the parties – or the terms were not finally agreed).

Whether the arrangement relates to a supply of goods, services or a commercial leasing arrangement – a legally binding arrangement may be determined by way the conduct of the parties (such as one of the parties completing a condition agreed to start the arrangement (for example, supplying a service), or an exchange of emails about an arrangement), even in the absence of a formal contract – whether or not the contract is ultimately signed.

When are negotiations binding?

Courts look at the objective intention of the parties when determining whether there is a legally binding agreement.  That is, whether a reasonable person would consider the agreement to be legally binding, and not the parties’ subjective intention.

Courts have found a legally binding agreement in the following situations:-

  1. When a vendor and purchaser of commercial property agreed to the essential terms of the agreement over email, noting that the agreement was “subject to contract” and “subject to execution”.  A court found that this was essentially an “agreement to contract” and made judgement against the vendor (who attempted to withdraw from the transaction due having found a more favourable third party purchaser);
  1. Negotiations between a tenant and landlord whereby the essential terms of the lease were agreed upon were found to constitute an agreement to lease.  This was the case even though the negotiations began with “subject to formal lease documents being signed” and that not all (minor) terms were agreed.  The landlord was ordered to pay damages to the tenant for failing to countersign the formal lease document; and
  1. A tenant who, after negotiating and signing a letter of offer with a landlord, proceeded to obtain council approvals (with the landlord’s assistance) and took steps to fit-out premises without a formal lease in place was found to be bound by an agreement to lease.

When determining the intention of the parties, regard will be to the surrounding circumstances of the negotiations, the relationship of the parties, subject matter of the agreement and other relevant factors.

What can you do to ensure no binding agreement is in place until documents are signed?

Parties who do not wish to be bound by negotiations or pre-contract documents (e.g. heads of agreement) must ensure that they clearly and consistently reiterate to the other party in all correspondence that no legally binding agreement will be formed until formal and final documentation has been signed.  As the above cases reveal, merely stating “subject to contract” is not enough.

Further, prospective tenants should not enter into possession and pay rent until the lease is signed as this may constitute acceptance by conduct. Conversely, a landlord should not accept rent until they are in a position to be bound.  More generally, parties should not begin performing their obligations under the agreement before the documents are signed.

However, the risks of making an agreement conditional is as a sword which can be used against you – as the other party to a transaction may similarly withdraw from the arrangement if there is no legally binding agreement. This may mean that you could lose a commercially advantageous deal if it is not locked in.

In any negotiation, you should always seek legal advice before accepting the terms of an agreement (whether by email, orally or otherwise) and before signing any preliminary document.

Nautilus Law Group has a team of professionals experienced in commercial and property agreements.  It may be that our team can give you a “thumbs up” or recommendation for variations in a short meeting, or for more complex matters – the engagement may be extended.

Engaging a lawyer to advise on an agreement is an investment in certainty, as the costs of remedying a failed arrangement greatly outweigh the costs savings of avoiding advice.

We welcome you to contact our Property and Commercial Team to discuss your arrangements.  Please free to contact Vicki by clicking her name, or by phoning to arrange an appointment with Vicki on (07) 5574 3560.

Related Party LRBAs and PCG 2016/5: A review and recommendations for Trustees for Smooth Sailing

Related Party LRBAs and PCG 2016/5: A review and recommendations for Trustees for Smooth Sailing

The release of PCG 2016/5 comes as no surprise, which follows on the back of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) publications ATO ID 2015/27 and ATO ID 2015/28, which set the tone for related party Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangements (LRBAs).  The ATO’s 2015 position clarified that nil interest rates and/or interest rate terms being other than “commercial” in nature, constituted “non-arms’ length income” within the meaning of subsection 295.550(1) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA97).

PCG 2016/5 sails past interest rates, and now gives the ATO’s position on the entirety of related party LRBAs, including requirements for principal and interest monthly payments, security, terms of lending and standards for setting fixed and variable interest rates.

IS ANYONE REALLY SURPRISED BY PCG 2016/5?

Given the overriding “sole purpose test” at section 62 of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SISA) – what would lead anyone to think a related party LRBA could be made on other than an “arms’ length” basis, with a commercial standard of reference required?  Let’s think this through – we are limited in acquiring assets from members and “related parties” of members by section 66 of the SISA, we are prohibited from providing financial assistance to members and relatives of members by section 65 of the SISA and we are required to deal with investments at an “arms’ length” in accordance with section 109 of the SISA.  So, does it come as any real surprise that, if a member or a related party of the member is going to lend money to the self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF), it has to be on commercial terms?

It scares me when Trustees lose sight of the overriding black cloud of Part IVA of the ITAA97, and forget that the ATO has the benefit of hindsight in assessing anti-avoidance schemes.  Looking beyond Trustees, those of us advising Trustees must also be alert to our civil, and possible criminal, exposure under SISA, including but not limited to section 55 of the SISA, which puts us, as advisors, on the line to pay losses or damages suffered by any “person” (not limited to members) as a consequence of another “person” (not limited to trustees) involved in a contravention of a SISA covenant.   Remembering the Courts and Financial Ombudsman Service quite often favour the consumer, we need only look to section 52 of the SISA to appreciate the broad liability stacked on our shoulders when giving advice to SMSF Trustees of any nature which is other than, on its face, based on all parties acting on commercial arms’ length terms.

Let’s look, therefore, at PCG 2016/5.  Whilst the ATO provides us with peace of mind as to its interpretation of “arms’ length terms” for purposes of related party LRBAs in the Safe Harbour provisions, the ATO recognises at paragraph 4 of PCG 2016/5 that other arrangements may nonetheless be based on arms’ length terms.

Safe Harbour 1:  The LRBA and real property (commercial or residential)

Interest Rate Reserve Bank of Australia Indicator Lending Rates for banks providing standard variable housing loans for investors. Applicable rates:

– For the 2015-16 year, the rate is 5.75%[1]

– For the 2016 17 and later years, the rate published for May (the rate for the month of May immediately prior to the start of the relevant financial year)

Fixed / variable Interest rate may be variable or fixed

–  Variable – uses the applicable rate (as set out above) for each year of the LBRA

–  Fixed – trustees may choose to fix the rate at the commencement of the arrangement for a specified period, up to a maximum of 5 years.

The fixed rate is the rate published for May (the rate for the May before the relevant financial year).

The 2015-16 rate of 5.75% may be used for LRBAs in existence on publication of these guidelines, if the total period for which the interest rate is fixed does not exceed 5 years (see ‘Term of the loan’ below)

Term of the loan Variable interest rate loan (original) – 15 year maximum loan term (for both residential and commercial)

Variable interest rate loan (re-financing) – maximum loan term is 15 years less the duration(s) of any previous loan(s) relating to the asset (for both residential and commercial)

Fixed interest rate loan – a new LRBA commencing after publication of these guidelines may involve a loan with a fixed interest rate set at the beginning of the arrangement. The rate may be fixed for a maximum period of 5 years and must convert to a variable interest rate loan at the end of the nominated period. The total loan term cannot exceed 15 years.

For an LRBA in existence on publication of these guidelines, the trustees may adopt the rate of 5.75% as their fixed rate, provided that the total fixed-rate period does not exceed 5 years. The interest rate must convert to a variable interest rate loan at the end of the nominated period. The total loan cannot exceed 15 years.

Loan to Market Value Ratio (LVR) Maximum 70% LVR for both commercial and residential property

If more than one loan is taken out to acquire (or refinance) the asset, the total amount of all those loans must not exceed 70% LVR.

The market value of the asset is to be established when the loan (original or re-financing) is entered into.

For an LRBA in existence on publication of these guidelines, the trustees may use the market value of the asset at 1 July 2015.

Security A registered mortgage over the property is required
Personal guarantee Not required
Nature and frequency of repayments Each repayment is of both principal and interest

Repayments are monthly

Loan agreement A written and executed loan agreement is required

Safe Harbour 2:  The LRBA and a collection of stock exchange listed shares or units

Interest Rate Reserve Bank of Australia Indicator Lending Rates for banks providing standard variable housing loans for investors plus 2%. Applicable rates:

–  For the 2015-16 year, the interest rate is 5.75% + 2% = 7.75%[2]

–   For the 2016-17 and later years, the rate published for May plus 2% (the rate for the May before the relevant financial year)

Fixed / variable Interest rate may be variable or fixed  – Variable – uses the applicable rate (as set out above) for each year of the LBRA
– Fixed – trustees may choose to fix the rate at the commencement of the arrangement for a specified period, up to a maximum of 3 years (see ‘Term of the loan’ below). The fixed rate is the rate for May plus 2% (the rate for the May before the relevant financial year)

The 2015-16 rate of 7.75% may be used for LRBAs in existence on publication of these guidelines, if the total period for which the interest rate is fixed does not exceed 3 years (see ‘Term of the loan’ below)

Term of the loan Variable interest rate loan (original) – 7 year maximum loan term

Variable interest rate loan (re-financing) – maximum loan term is 7 years less the duration(s) of any previous loan(s) relating to the collection of assets

Fixed interest rate loan – a new LRBA commencing after publication of these guidelines may involve a loan that has a fixed interest rate set at the beginning of the arrangement. The rate may be fixed up to for a maximum of 3 years, and must convert to a variable interest rate loan at the end of the nominated period. The total loan term cannot exceed 7 years.

For an LRBA in existence on publication of these guidelines, the trustees may adopt the rate of 7.75% as their fixed rate, provided that the total period of the fixed rate does not exceed 3 years. The interest rate must convert to a variable interest rate loan at the end of the nominated period. The total loan cannot exceed 7 years.

LVR Maximum 50% LVR

If more than one loan is taken out to acquire (or refinance) the collection of assets, the total amount of all those loans must not exceed 50% LVR.

The market value of the collection of assets is to be established when the loan (original or re-financing) is entered into.

For an LRBA in existence on publication of these guidelines, the trustees may use the market value of the asset at 1 July 2015.

Security A registered charge/mortgage or similar security (that provides security for loans for such assets)
Personal guarantee Not required
Nature and frequency of repayments Each repayment is of both principal and interest

Repayments are monthly

Loan agreement A written and executed loan agreement is required

[1] Interest is to be calculated monthly on a compounding basis.

[2]Interest is to be calculated monthly on a compounding basis.

So, what happens if you can’t fit your arrangements into the Safe Harbours?  You aren’t sunk just yet.

LET’S CONSIDER THE LOAN TERMS…

If your client borrowed from a commercial lender to on-lend to the SMSF, what does the commercial lender’s terms to the client look like?

To keep this simple, let’s create a reference:

Client Pty Ltd, as Trustee for Client Superfund, borrows from John Smith, the sole director of Client Pty Ltd and sole member of Client Superfund, to acquire Greenacre for $500,000.  John borrowed $530,000 from Awesome Bank, secured against his home, on a 30 year interest free term, with the first 5 years being interest free only, with principal and interest from year 6.  John gave a personal guarantee, and also offered up security against his personal share portfolio.  The LVR was 80% of the combined value of John’s home and his share portfolio.  The interest on the loan is variable, based on Awesome Bank’s published rates.  Awesome Bank has their own internal assessment processes for determining variable rates.  John’s advisor told him that he could on-lend at the Awesome Bank’s rate for the full acquisition value, on matching loan terms.  John’s advisor also made sure John registered a mortgage over the property.  What happens now?

Can John rely on Awesome Bank’s terms to escape the Safe Harbours?  Not entirely.

Awesome Bank has recourse against John’s income as well, as the security and later acquired assets of John (through the personal guarantee).  John only has recourse against the real property owned by the SMSF, and nothing else.  Accordingly, given the additional risk, one would expect a commercial lender in John’s position would have either required higher interest rates, shorter terms or a varied LVR.  However, the terms of Awesome Bank’s lending to John are nonetheless material; the first approach for John is to seek out Awesome Bank’s LRBA terms.  If Awesome Bank’s LRBA terms at the time of acquisition were more lenient than the Safe Harbour provisions, John has a commercial “arms’ length” reference to hold to support a variation from the Safe Harbour.  However, to the extent his LRBA terms are more favourable than the Awesome Bank’s LRBA terms, John would need to vary his own LRBA to match (even if the variation was less than the Safe Harbour provisions).

What if Awesome Bank did not offer LRBA lending at the time of acquisition?  Perhaps John could then look to Community Bank instead.  If Community Bank has lending terms which were more lenient than the Safe Harbour provisions, then John would have a commercial “arms’ length” reference to support a variation.

To the extent John tries to find “arms’ length” terms different to the Safe Harbour provisions, he is best to ensure the comparative is truly “commercial”.  John should not look to his best mate Bob, who is a third party lender, to provide the “commercial” comparative – unless Bob is a recognised credit provider who has engaged in LRBA arrangements as a regular component of his business (which business commenced well before the publication of ATO ID 2015/27 and ATO ID 2015/28).

LET’S CONSIDER SOME STRATEGIES…

Let’s say that John has to figure out how to raise the shortfall in the LVR.  What are some options?

  1. John could make additional concessional and non-concessional contributions (subject to the contribution caps and restrictions) by allowing part of the loan to be paid down (do not forget the paperwork and required transactions!);
  1. John could invite new members to the fund and their rollovers and/or contributions could be used to reduce the loan (make sure the investment strategy is considered for each);
  1. John could sell the asset (which could be difficult by 30 June – but it is an option); and/or
  1. John could re-finance through Awesome Bank, and give Awesome Bank a personal guarantee (hopefully Awesome Bank values his business).

What if John is in pension phase, and he has to fund increased repayments on the LRBA from the SMSF?  John could look to any of the above options, and he could also:

  1. Commute his pension and roll back to growth phase;
  1. Commute his pension, and commence a part pension with the balance of his member interest in growth phase; and/or
  1. Vary the terms of his pension to reduce his payments to the statutory minimums.

PCG 2016/5 is not the end of the world, but it is a wake-up call to all advisors in the SMSF space to favour conservatism in strategies.  There may be litigation which flows out of PCG 2016/5, given some advisors made exceedingly ambitious strategic recommendations to clients who will not be able to float adequate remedial action by 30 June 2016.  The ATO has given advisors a bit of leeway and, with a bit of creative manoeuvring, many SMSFs can sail to the Safe Harbours with minimal frustration (consider the above options, if the client could fund to lend – the client may likely remediate by treating funds as contributions).

If you would like to discuss PCG 2016/5 or what the ATO Safe Harbours mean for you or your clients, please contact Katrina Brown on 07 5574 3560 or via email.

Next Article: Can an Employee acquire a residential property as an investment in the Employee’s Self Managed Super Fund (“SMSF”), if the Employer is a Property Developer?

Previous Article: A complying self-managed superannuation fund may be settled by an instrument having the effect of a deed – allowing for execution by digital signature

Can an employee acquire a residential property as an investment in the employee’s Self Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF), if the employer is a property developer?

Answer:  Maybe, maybe not.

This question asks whether an employee is a related party of their employer (or the employer a related party of the employee’s SMSF) for purposes of Section 71 Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SISA), in respect to the In-House Asset Test and Section 66 of the SISA, in respect to the prohibition against acquiring certain assets (including residential property) from a related party.

There is no default rule that an employee is an associate of their employer.  The analysis does not, however, end at that fact.

A related party of another is defined at section 10(1) of the SISA as a member, a standard employer sponsor of the Fund, or a Part 8 Associate of either the member or the standard employer sponsor of the Fund.

Assuming the employee’s SMSF is not an employer sponsored fund, the question is whether the employer may nonetheless be a Part 8 Associate of the employee.

A Part 8 Associate is defined at section 70B of the SISA as a relative of an entity (if the employee is unrelated to the employer, no problem), a partner of the entity (if the employee is not a partner – then not a problem), a trustee of a trust for which the entity is “controlled” (if the employee has no influence over the trust, receives no income or capital, etc. – then not a problem), or if the employee has a “sufficient influence” or “majority voting interest” in the entity (this could be the area in which the test is relevant, because as an employee she may have significant influence over the conduct of the entity), or another Part 8 Associate of the employee has this influence (for example, a family member controls the employer or a related entity of the employer).

In respect to the question of “sufficient influence”, we consider section 70E of the SISA, and note that it may be the case that the employee has considerable conduct in the employer’s affairs.

For example, the employee may, for a property developer, determine the properties to be acquired and/or developed, and be charged with the derivation of investors and the profit sharing relationships.  The employee may also, in such circumstances, receive a bonus on the development projects.  The directors may rely on the employee to provide recommendations across the business.  In this case, the employee may likely have “sufficient influence” to be a related entity to his employer.  Similarly, if the employee received, as a consequence of employment, the right to demand an asset as compensation for the services to the employer, this may be “sufficient influence” to be a related party.

On the other hand, if the employer is a property developer, and the employee is a secretary with float tasks over administration matters, it is quite likely the employee has little or no influence over her employer.

The circumstances in which section 70E may apply in an employee/employer relationship are complicated and should be considered on the facts and circumstances (consider for example the relationship between employer and employee for purposes of the Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986 (Cth)).

Provided the employee is not a Part 8 Associate (nor a related party of the employee) to the employer, then the employee may acquire assets of the employer at arm’s length and commercial terms (subject to satisfying at all times section 62 of the SISA, being the Sole Purpose Test), without restriction under the test of section 66 (restricting acquisitions of assets from members and their related parties), and section 71 (In-House Asset Test) would not apply if the asset was acquired.

Notwithstanding the above, any transaction must be compliant with section 109, with every stage of the acquisition, including any vendor finance arrangements, made on arm’s length and commercial terms.  Whilst sections 67 and 67A do not prevent an employer from lending money to an employee (subject to any restrictions posed by Division 7A of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997), the finance arrangements (limited recourse borrowing arrangements) must be such that the vendor (employer) does not retain title over the asset pending settlement of the borrowing.

If you have any queries regarding the subject of this article, please do not hesitate to contact Katrina Brown via email or on 07 5574 3560.