Tax reform doesn’t have to be terrible. There are better, practical ways to do it that help everyday taxpayers. The Taxinator’s Manifesto sets out 16 revenue-neutral reforms to modernise SA tax administration: → 6-month decision deadlines on objections (no more endless delays) → Binding private rulings for upfront certainty → Strengthen hardship relief & flexible payments (protecting small businesses & individuals from rigid rules) → Modern payroll tax grouping (only genuinely related entities) → Appeals to SACAT & remove 50% pre-payment rule → And 11 more fairer fixes Support real tax reform in state taxes: cartlandlaw.com/tax-reform/

Most AI headlines are lying to you. Not because they're wrong. Because they're describing a different economy to the one you work in. Here's the reality: AI that gets the tax answer right 90% of the time is not 90% good. Brakes that work 90% of the time are failed brakes. But when it's set up properly? I recently rebuilt 30 entities of accounts across 4 years from bank statements and a pile of receipts in 3 days of law clerk time. Work that would have cost $10-15k, done at roughly 10% of that cost. Not magic. Just set up properly. Full breakdown here: lnkd.in/gQ4dz_bd #cartlandlaw #tax #trusts #technology

I have written papers for years on present entitlement and made public predictions that the High Court was going to set out those problems in Bendel. Indeed, fundamental trust law is the main show; much more interesting and long lived than any issue with statutory construction. I am working on updating my technical papers now to reflect Bendel, and developing a better understanding through our Friday Tax Training discussion groups. But in the meantime, here is a summary setting out why the ATO lost the battle but win the war with Bendel. accountantsdaily.com.au/tax-…

TREASURY TO USE MORE THAN WIKIPEDIA FOR UNDERSTANDING TAX LAW BEFORE NEXT BUDGET 9th June 2026 Issue No. 28 CANBERRA — The federal Treasury has confirmed it will consult a source other than Wikipedia when drafting the next round of tax legislation, following the release of a 2026-27 Budget package that practitioners say reads as though it were assembled from encyclopaedia summaries of tax concepts rather than the law itself. A Treasury spokesperson said the department remained committed to a deeper evidence base, and confirmed that the income splitting section had been drafted with reference to the Wikipedia article “Income splitting,” which opens by comparing it to dividing a restaurant bill. Continue Reading...shorturl.at/naF20 #TheDailyCartland

CHANCELLOR CONFIRMS NEW RULES ON USES WILL END TAX AVOIDANCE THROUGH TRUSTS ONCE AND FOR ALL Issue no. 27 Date 27 May 2026 WESTMINSTER, 1290 — Robert Burnell, Chancellor to King Edward I, has announced new measures targeting the practice of “uses,” the device by which a landowner transfers legal title to a trusted associate (the feoffee) who holds the land on behalf of the true beneficiary, and confirmed that the reforms will end tax avoidance through trust arrangements once and for all. The Chancellor, addressing the Exchequer, confirmed that uses had for several decades permitted wealthy landowners to direct the profits of their estates to family members who held no legal title and therefore owed the Crown nothing. Read the daily cartland here: cartlandlaw.com/ai-is-too-ri… #cartlandlaw #thedailycartland

The real losers from this Budget aren’t my HNW clients. They’ll restructure, adapt, and keep their tax bill roughly the same, or even move overseas if needed. The losers are: • Mum & dad business owners in discretionary trusts now facing much higher tax rates • Aspirational workers trying to get ahead with rental properties or share investments • Everyday taxpayers hurt by weak indexation and no real loss relief These people can’t afford a tax lawyer. It’s disappointing that the everyday Australian is the loser from this budget.

CHANCELLOR CONFIRMS NEW RULES ON USES WILL END TAX AVOIDANCE THROUGH TRUSTS ONCE AND FOR ALL Issue no. 27 Date 27 May 2026 WESTMINSTER, 1290 — Robert Burnell, Chancellor to King Edward I, has announced new measures targeting the practice of “uses,” the device by which a landowner transfers legal title to a trusted associate (the feoffee) who holds the land on behalf of the true beneficiary, and confirmed that the reforms will end tax avoidance through trust arrangements once and for all.  The Chancellor, addressing the Exchequer, confirmed that uses had for several decades permitted wealthy landowners to direct the profits of their estates to family members who held no legal title and therefore owed the Crown nothing. Read The Daily Cartland here: cartlandlaw.com/chancellor-c… #cartlandlaw #thedailycartland

This budget massively distorts incentives and rewards the already wealthy. For example, the increased CGT and 30% trust minimum are easily sidestepped by active share traders and property developers. Both are on revenue account: - a share trader's gains are ordinary income, shares are trading stock, CGT is disregarded; - a property developer carrying on an enterprise is on the same footing - the land is trading stock and the gain is ordinary income. A developer can be as small as one property split into two. Run either through a base rate company and you sit at 25% - five points under the new CGT floor, and five points under the new minimum on discretionary trust distributions. Losses are on revenue account, deductible against other income. The new regime is largely bypassed. The passive direct investor cops it the other way. Indexation only relieves inflation on the winners. The real losers - shares that grew slower than CPI but did not fall in nominal terms - cannot be offset. So the portfolio is taxed on its nominal winners while its real losers are invisible. So anyone with a reasonable share portfolio has a real reason to also be an active trader. And anyone with reasonable real estate holdings has a real reason to also be a developer. The threshold is meetable but not free: - Share traders: profit purpose, regular and systematic trade, business-like manner, plan, records (Case X86). - Property developers: change of purpose, coherent plan for subdivision, business organisation, borrowed funds, development beyond council requirements (MT 2006/1, drawn from Statham and Casimaty). And don't wait until the losses appear (TA 2009/12). This is a budget that punishes the aspirational investor. Those with existing wealth will simply structure out of it. #Budget2026

LAW FIRM’S “CHARISMATIC HEAD OF IT” REVEALED TO BE TECHNICIAN LEAST AFRAID OF HUMAN INTERACTION 19 May 2026 Issue No. 26 Continue Reading.....lnkd.in/gWW2B4z8 #thedailycartland #cartlandlaw

AI Is Not a Thing  (Or: Why Calling Everything “AI” Is Like Calling Every Fight “UFC”) There is a certain kind of person who sees a boxing match, a judo throw, and a spinning back kick and says, with great confidence, “That’s UFC.” Continue Reading: lnkd.in/gHn6QjyS

The CGT Discount was HALF. They removed the CGT discount on HALF. Now when they tax me they are going to take HALF.

PARTNERSHIP ASPIRATIONS DASHED AS FIRM INTRODUCES ADDITIONAL “PRE-PARTNERSHIP” TITLES 14 May 2026 Issue No.25 HOBART- A boutique commercial law firm has introduced a new seniority classification immediately below partner, citing the need to recognise associate progression. The new title, Managing Counsel, was announced on Tuesday by managing partner Richard Hollis, who described the initiative as “a meaningful structural investment in the firm’s talent architecture.” Continue Reading....shorturl.at/MKX59 #TheDailyCartland

So the real budget winner was… the tax advisors who get to restructure *every* small business in the country? Time to dust off: - different share classes; - partnerships (including with discretionary entitlements); - “fixed” trusts (what does that really mean?) - rent charges, ground leases, management fees, and other income splitting arrangements - So. Much. More. Negative gearing is a rollover away - it is only restricted on real property, and not on shares or other interests. Discretionary trusts still need to be the ultimate holding entity due to asset protection reasons. But now they just need added steps. The budget even expressly encourages restructures - giving concessions for restructuring. Presumably that is important for dominant purpose. The sad thing is that these type of changes hurt the smaller taxpayers - who can’t afford to get, or implement, suitable tax advice.

How to Succeed with an AI Wrapper (Part 1): Proprietary Data There is an inconvenient truth about AI in law that people keep trying to talk their way around. Proprietary data wins. It always has. It still does. It probably always will. That feels unfair, anti-competitive, and structurally hostile to startups, but law is not a fairness-based market. It is a risk-based one. Lawyers do not buy tools to express values about innovation; they buy tools to reduce uncertainty and increase coverage. Nothing reduces uncertainty like having access to more things. This is the first in a series on what it actually takes to succeed with an AI wrapper in law. Full article: shorturl.at/Xzk52

I love new LLMs

NEW ATO GIC REMISSION POLICY TO BE BASED ON TAXPAYER'S STAR SIGN 6 May 2026 ISSUE NO. 24 CANBERRA — The Australian Taxation Office has announced a new framework for the remission of general interest charge, under which decisions will be determined by the taxpayer’s star sign, effective from 1 July. The ATO said the change would improve consistency. A separate spokesperson said the commencement date was subject to review. A third spokesperson said 1 July remained the indicative date, pending confirmation that Mercury would not be in retrograde. Continue Reading……… shorturl.at/75ZqT #TheDailyCartland