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Last updated 8 March 2010

Changes and proposed changes to the law

Demutualisation of private health insurers

Changes to the law provide relief from CGT for policy holders of health insurers who receive shares (or rights) when their insurer demutualises. These changes apply from 1 July 2007.

For more information, see Demutualisation of private health insurers.

Marriage breakdown rollover

Changes to the Family Law Act mean that de facto couples now have access to the financial settlement regime under the Family Law Act 1975.

As a result the capital gains tax provisions have been changed to extend CGT rollover on the transfer of an asset on marriage breakdown to transfers of assets under an agreement made between parties to a de facto relationship under the Family Law Act 1975.

The CGT rollover has also been extended to include the transfer of an asset reflecting the personal interest of a party to a de facto relationship in a small superannuation fund from that fund to another complying fund in accordance with a court order under the Family Law Act 1975 or an agreement made between the parties to the de facto relationship under the Family Law Act 1975.

These changes apply from 1 March 2009. For further information see Marriage breakdown.

Changes to the law will also extend CGT rollover on the transfer of assets on marriage breakdown to cover transfer between spouses, whether a marriage, or a same-sex or opposite-sex de facto relationship. This change will apply from the 2009-10 income year.

Modification of the scrip-for-scrip provisions for corporate restructures

A Bill introduced into Parliament modifies the scrip-for-scrip CGT rollover provisions to ensure that, for corporate restructures, the acquiring entity's cost base of shares in the target entity reflects the tax costs of the target entity's net assets.

The amendments apply to arrangements entered into after 7.30pm (by legal time in the ACT) on 13 May 2008.

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