Trust Distribution Minutes Library for 2022/23 - Multi-Use

* UPDATED 2023 *

The Trust Distribution Minutes have been updated in 2023 to include Minutes which address the issues raised in Owies case and additional commentary.

What are Distribution Minutes?

Before the end of each financial year the trustee decides who gets what income from your Family Trust or Testamentary Trust.

This kit provides you with a range of pro-forma Distribution Minutes that you can use to make appropriate trust resolutions.

This document is suitable for producing minutes for a multiple Trust Deeds. If you need to produce minutes for a single Trust Deed, then consider using Trust Distribution Minutes Library for 2022/23 - Single-use.

Do it BEFORE the end of the financial year.

Don’t forget to do “Family Trust Distribution Minutes” before the end of the financial year (or earlier if required by the terms of your trust deed).

Understand how Div 7A operates.

If you don’t know how this Division operates, get your accountant or lawyer to explain it to you.

Old style minutes are no longer appropriate.

Unless there is something contrary in the Deed, the “net income” of a trust is determined under generally accepted accounting practice, rather than by the tax laws.

“Accounting net income” is not usually the same as “net income for tax purposes”. For example, the effect of capital gains tax indexation, the carry forward of losses, accelerated tax depreciation rates, the “quarantining” of foreign losses, non-deductible provisions, and prepayments can cause the two concepts to differ.

You should check to see if your Trust Deed requires the accounting income of the trust to be distributed to beneficiaries. If so, you might wish to amend the Trust Deed to allow for the net income for tax purposes to be distributed instead.

Use our minutes to effectively distribute Trust income under the current law.

We have put together pro-forma “Family Trust Distribution” minutes which are fully compliant with the current law.

What do I get with this document?

You get Discretionary Trust Distribution Minutes covering a range of scenarios that you are likely to encounter in making your trust distributions. These include situations where what is being distributed includes net capital gains, franked distributions, and scenarios where you may wish to “stream” income of a certain type.

The Minutes Library also includes various enquiry letters the Trustee may wish to use in line with the decision of Owies case.

The Trust Distribution Minutes assume that your trust deed has an “income equalisation clause” of some type, together with a clause allowing the streaming of particular classes of income. If your Trust Deed does not contain such clauses, you should consider purchasing Law Central’s “Family Trust - Streaming and Bamford Update”

Build it now.

Checklist is not available for this document.

Sample is not available for this document.

Name of Accounting Firm
• What am I buying?
• Minutes also for Testamentary Trusts as well?
• Why ask name of Accounting firm?
• Can I use these minutes for more than one trust?

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Name of Accounting Firm

• What am I buying?

  You are purchasing 2 things:
  
  1. Draft minutes that will help you prepare fully ATO compliant distribution minutes for your family trust, discretionary trust or testamentary trust. Another name for these draft minutes would be "pro-forma" minutes. These are for you to copy and use.
  
  2. You also get Explanatory Notes throughout these pro-forma minutes.

  This hint is provided by Law Central Legal.

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• Minutes also for Testamentary Trusts as well?

  Yes, that is correct.
  
  The pro-forma minutes are needed for family trusts, any type of discretionary trusts and testamentary trusts.
  
  A testamentary trust is a trust that is created in someone's Will. A Will only comes into operation when the person who made it dies. Therefore, the testamentary trust only starts when that person dies.

  This hint is provided by Law Central Legal.

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• Why ask name of Accounting firm?

  This document grants a limited licence for the user to use these trust minutes for multiple trust deeds on behalf of themselves, their staff and their clients. We are assuming that in most cases it is an accounting firm preparing these minutes on behalf of their clients. If you are not an accounting firm, that is fine, simply put your own name or the name of your business as the accounting firm.

  This hint is provided by Law Central Legal.

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• Can I use these minutes for more than one trust?

  Yes, this document grants you a limited licence to use these trust minutes for the 2022-2023 financial year only for multiple trust deeds on behalf of yourself, your staff and your clients. If you only need the minutes for one trust deed then we recommend you use the Trust Distribution Minutes Library for 2022/23 - Single-use.
  

  This hint is provided by Law Central Legal.

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This document has been prepared by the law practice Law Central Legal

Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation