There has been so much out there around the budget, that it is making it nearly impossible to see or interpret what is coming our way.

Given most of the changes have delayed start dates and the most offensive of the changes commences from 1 July 2028 (which is likely after a 2028 Federal Election), there is a long way to go for these changes to become a reality.

We have prepared a high level summary on the announcements and when each is scheduled to commence.

We have - and will continue to develop - various strategies to deal with the implications of these announcements to reduce the impacts they will have on our clients. However, for the truly mad change - that is, the taxation on trusts and the nonrefundable nature of that tax and any distributions flowing from a trust to a company - we believe that we will need to wait to see what the legislation says. This madness is proposed to start 1 July 2028 so we believe there will be significant changes and we have time to react and respond.

Testamentary trusts that are contemplated in your Estates need to be checked to ensure that they are optional and not default (ie no discretion). At this stage we would encourage you to just review that aspect and if necessary update so that it's optional.

We will be continually reviewing this over the coming months to recalibrate our response and advice to you, but for now we are suggesting just hold tight while this mess works through the political side and into legislation.