Take action · petition to the Treasurer and the Tax Office
Honest paperwork slips are being hit with a penalty tax at the top marginal rate, on income that was already taxed, with interest going back decades and no time limit. Add your name and tell the Treasurer and the Commissioner of Taxation to fix it. It takes thirty seconds.
01
Like almost every other tax.
02
For genuine mistakes where nobody gained a tax benefit.
03
Interest discount past 30 June, open to families under audit.
The petition
To the Hon Dr Jim Chalmers MP, Treasurer, and the Commissioner of Taxation
Family Trust Distribution Tax has applied since 1995 to stop trusts trading in tax losses. Today it is catching families who made honest mistakes decades ago: a missing form, a misspelled name, a distribution to the wrong relative, or records they were never required to keep.
The tax is charged at the top marginal rate, 47% today, usually on income that has already been taxed in full. Interest compounds daily from day 81. There is no time limit, and the Tax Office says it has no discretion, even for a typo.
We, the undersigned, ask:
The Treasurer to legislate a time limit like other taxes and a discretion to waive the tax for genuine mistakes, covering families already under audit, permanently in the Act.
The Commissioner of Taxation to extend the interest discount beyond 30 June 2027, and open it to families already under audit, until Parliament acts.
Signed
Your name is on the petition. One more step makes it count twice: email your own MP. It takes two minutes.
I just signed the petition to fix the family trust tax trap. A paperwork slip from decades ago should not mean a bill many times the tax. Add your name:
Why both
01
Only Parliament can add a time limit and a discretion. The Treasurer can put the fix into the trust tax bill already before Parliament.
02
The Tax Office’s interest discount ends on 30 June 2027 and excludes families under audit. Extending it buys time while Parliament acts. C12
More you can do
