The announcement follows the ATO’s taxpayer alert, which was released on March 7, 2025.
The Federal Government will amend income tax laws to ensure legitimate investors can continue to access concessional withholding tax rates in Australia.
The follows the Australian Taxation Office's (ATO) taxpayer alert (TA 2025/1) related to concerns over arrangements to restructure an existing trust or other inward investment structure to inappropriately access the managed investment trust (MIT) withholding regime (including deemed capital gains tax (CGT) treatment), which was released on March 7, 2025. Read TaxNewsFlash
Proposed amendments
The amendments would make clear that trusts ultimately owned by a single widely held investor (e.g., a foreign pension fund) are able to access the MIT concessions.
This measure would apply to fund payments from March 13, 2025.
The announcement states that the measure aims to "complement" TA 2025/1, to make it clear that the ATO will take enforcement action when taxpayers engage in "non-commercial restructures to inappropriately access MIT withholding tax benefits."
The amendments would not affect the ATO's power to act using Part IVA when “captive MITs� involve other characteristics of the kind set out in TA 2025/1.
For more information, contact a tax professional with the ÀÖÓ㣨Leyu£©ÌåÓý¹ÙÍø member firm in Australia:
Matt Ervin |Â mattervin@kpmg.com.au
Shirley Lam |Â slam1@kpmg.com.au
Tasha Chen |Â tchen53@kpmg.com.au
Alexandra Macolino | amacolino@kpmg.com.au