Advice - Assistance with Family Trust

Discussion in 'Accounting & Tax' started by pete.saba, 24th Oct, 2016.

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  1. pete.saba

    pete.saba New Member

    Joined:
    24th Oct, 2016
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    Location:
    Sydney, NSW
    Hello all,
    New to the forum, and hoping someone can help. I don't seem to be able to find a clear answer on this.

    During the startup of a business, a Company was setup (pty ltd) as the trustee of a unit trust (PMH) and the unit trust was to "pay out" to myself and 2 other family trusts. As the business was being structured and put together, I had a falling out with one of the directors and pulled myself out of the business. So I am no longer part of the PTY LTD (no longer a director) and no longer part of the unit trust which is the business (PMH), but I believe that I still have the "family trust" opened, as the accountants who looked after it all said i should just leave it there in case I wanted a family trust in future.

    My family trust has no assets, no bank account and no ownership of anything. nor has it distributed any funds in any way.

    I wanted to know, because this had no requirement to be opened any more, are there any tax implications for holding it opened in case of future business ventures or would I be better off just closing it down? I'm not aware of what the costs are of keeping it opened, if I need to lodge a yearly "nil" return for it and if I can do that myself or require an accountant to do it?

    Any assistance or knowledge on the matter would be greatly appreciated.
     
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  2. Simon Hampel

    Simon Hampel Founder Staff Member

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    3rd Jun, 2015
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    Who is the trustee of the family trust? You personally or a Pty Ltd company?
     
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  3. Terry_w

    Terry_w Lawyer, Tax Adviser and Mortgage broker in Sydney Business Member

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    A trust must have some assets otherwise it will not exist. A trust is just X holding assets for Y. Surely the trustee is holding at least the settled sum of $10 or $20?

    The trust must lodge a tax return. But in this case it would be a nil tax return probably. You can do it yourself. Just make sure you include the settled sum in the assets section.
     
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