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Non-assessable payments from a trust

Last updated 5 October 2009

It is quite common for a trust to make non-assessable payments to beneficiaries.

If a profit made by the trust is not assessable, any part of that profit distributed to a beneficiary will also be non-assessable in most cases-for example, a share of a profit made on the sale of property acquired by the trust before 20 September 1985.

However, if you receive non-assessable payments from a trust, you need to make cost base adjustments to your units or trust interest. Those adjustments will affect the amount of any capital gain or capital loss you make on the unit or interest (for example, when you sell it). If certain amounts exceed your cost base, you may also make a capital gain equal to that excess in the year it is paid to you.

Note-Capital loss: You cannot make a capital loss from a non-assessable payment.

If relevant to you, non-assessable payments may be shown on your distribution statement as:

  • tax-free amounts (where certain tax concessions allowed to the trust, means it can pay greater distributions to its unit holders)
  • CGT-concession amounts (the trust's CGT discount and capital losses components of any actual distribution)
  • tax-exempted amounts (generally made up of exempt income of the trust, amounts on which the trust has already paid tax or income you had to repay to the trust), or
  • tax-deferred amounts (other non-assessable payments, including indexation allowed to the trust on its capital gains and accounting differences in income).

Before 1 July 2001, a payment of an amount associated with building allowances was treated as a tax-free amount. Payments on or after that date are treated as tax-deferred amounts.

A CGT-concession amount received before 1 July 2001 was treated in the same way as a tax-deferred amount. From this date, CGT-concession amounts no longer require a cost base/ reduced cost base adjustment.

Tax-exempted amount and CGT-concession amounts do not affect your cost base or reduced cost base.

However, if your statement shows any tax-deferred or tax-free amounts, you adjust the cost base and reduced cost base as follows:

  • cost base-deduct the tax-deferred amounts from the cost base
  • reduced cost base-add the tax-deferred amounts and the tax-free amounts and deduct the total from the reduced cost base.

Generally, you make any adjustment to the cost base or reduced cost base of your unit or trust interest at the end of the income year. However, if some other CGT event happens to the unit or trust interest during the year (for example, you sell your units) you must adjust the cost base or reduced cost base just before the time of that CGT event. The amount of the adjustment is based on the amount of non-assessable payments paid to you up to the date of sale. You use the adjusted cost base or reduced cost base to work out your capital gain or capital loss (see chapter 2 for more information).

The cost base and reduced cost base adjustments are more complex if you deducted capital losses from a grossed-up capital gain where a capital gain made by the trust was reduced by the small business 50 per cent active asset reduction. If this applies to you, you may need to seek advice from the ATO on how to make the adjustments.

If the tax-deferred amount is greater than the cost base of your unit or trust interest, you include the excess as a capital gain. You can use the indexation method if you bought your units or trust interest before 21 September 1999. However, if you do so, you cannot use the discount method to work out your capital gain when you later sell the units or trust interest.

Start of example

Example: Bob has received a non-assessable amount.

Bob owns units in OZ Investments Fund which distributed income to him for the year ending 30 June 2002. The fund gave him a statement showing his distribution included the following capital gains:

  • $100 calculated using the discount method (grossed-up amount $200)
  • $75 calculated using the indexation method
  • $28 calculated using the 'other' method.

These capital gains add up to $203.

The statement shows Bob's distribution did not include a tax-free amount but it did include $105 tax-deferred amount.

From his records, Bob knows that the cost base and reduced cost base of his units are $1,200 and $1,050 respectively.

Bob has no other capital gains or capital losses for the 2001-02 income year.

Bob follows these steps to work out the amounts to show on his tax return.

As Bob has a capital gain which the fund reduced under the CGT discount of 50 per cent ($100), he includes the grossed-up amount ($200) in his total current year capital gain.

Bob adds the grossed-up amount to his capital gains calculated using the indexed method and 'other' method to work out his total current year capital gains:

$200 + $75 + $28 = $303

As Bob has no other capital gains or capital losses, and he must use the discount method in relation to the capital gains calculated using the discount method from the trust, his net capital gain is equal to the amount of capital gain included in his distribution from the fund ($203).

Bob completes item 17 on his tax return as follows:

17 Capital gains Label G Did you have a CGT event during the year? Yes Label A Net capital gain: $203 Label H Total current year capital gains: $303 Label V Net capital losses carried forward to later income years: $0

Records Bob needs to keep

The tax-deferred amount Bob received is not included in his income or his capital gains but it affects the cost base and reduced cost base of his units in OZ Investments Fund for future income years.

Bob deducts the tax-deferred amount from both the cost base and reduced cost base of his units as follows:

Cost base

$1,200

less tax-deferred amount

$105

New cost base

$1,095

Reduced cost base

$1,050

less tax-deferred amount

$105

New reduced cost base

$945

 

End of example

 

Start of example

Example: Ilena's capital loss is greater than her non-discounted capital gain

Ilena invested in XYZ Managed Fund. The fund made a distribution to Ilena for the year ending 30 June 2002 and provided her with a statement that shows her distribution included:

  • $65 discounted capital gain
  • $90 non-discounted capital gain.

The statement shows Ilena's distribution also included:

  • $30 tax-deferred amount
  • $35 tax-free amount.

Ilena has no other capital gains but made a capital loss of $100 on some shares she sold during the year.

From her records, Ilena knows the cost base and reduced cost base of her units are $5,000 and $4,700 respectively.

Ilena has to treat the capital gain component of her fund distribution as if she made the capital gain. To complete her tax return, Ilena must identify the capital gain component of her fund distribution and work out her net capital gain.

Ilena follows these steps to work out the amounts to show at item 17 on her tax return.

As Ilena has a $65 capital gain which the fund reduced by the CGT discount of 50 per cent, she must gross up the capital gain. She does this by multiplying the amount of the discounted capital gain by 2:

$65 × 2 = $130

Ilena adds her grossed-up and non-discounted capital gains to work out her total current year capital gains:

$130 + $90 = $220

She shows her total current year capital gains ($220) at H item 17 on her tax return.

After Ilena has grossed up the discounted capital gain received from the fund, she subtracts her capital losses from her capital gains.

Ilena can choose which capital gains she subtracts the capital losses from first. In her case, she gets the better result if she:

  • first subtracts her capital losses from her non-discounted capital gains: $90 − $90 = $0
  • then subtracts any remaining capital losses from her grossed-up gains: $130 −$10 = $120

Ilena applies the CGT discount of 50 per cent to the remaining grossed-up capital gains:

$120 − ($120 × 50%) = $60

Ilena adds up the capital gains remaining after applying the CGT discount. The total is her net capital gain:

$60 + $0 = $60

Ilena completes item 17 on her tax return as follows:

17 Capital gains Label G Did you have a CGT event during hte year? Yes Label A Net capital gain: $60 Label H Total current year capital gains: $220 Label V Net capital losses carried forward to later income years: $0

Records Ilena needs to keep

The tax-deferred and tax-free amounts Ilena received are not included in her income or her capital gain but the tax-deferred amount affects the cost base and reduced cost base of her units in XYZ Managed Fund for future income years. The tax-free amount affects her reduced cost base.

Ilena reduces the cost base and reduced cost base of her units as follows:

Cost base

$5,000

less tax-deferred amount

$30

New cost base

$4,970

Reduced cost base

$4,700

less tax-deferred amount($30) + tax-free amount ($35)

$65

New reduced cost base

$4,635

 

End of example

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