News and Insights From Williams Hughes

COVID-19: Temporary relief for financially distressed individuals, companies and directors

The Australian Federal Government has announced temporary amendments to insolvency and bankruptcy laws, effective from 25 March 2020, to lessen the economic impacts of COVID-19 on individuals and businesses and to allow for business continuity. The legislation passed is called the Coronavirus Econom...

Retail Shop Lease expenditure statements - It can be too late !

In a situation that is not unusual in the commercial retail shop leasing space; particularly with small scale commercial landlords, a tenant has paid the landlord’s operating expenses for many years but subsequently realised that perhaps they should have been provided by their landlord with pr...

Covid 19- an overview of the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme

The core component of the Federal Government’s business support package in response to the Covid-19 pandemic is the JobKeeper scheme. This scheme is intended to help employers retain employees on their books, with the objective of ensuring money continues to circulate in the economy during the...

Need a new will ? Witnessing wills during Covid-19 in Western Australia

In Western Australia for a Will to be valid: the Will must be in writing the person making the Will must have "testamentary capacity" the Will must be signed by at least two witnesses in the presence of the person making the Will. The last requirement may be difficult t...

Covid-19 relief for commercial tenants in Western Australia

The State and Commonwealth Governments are in the process of enacting legislation to provide relief to commercial tenants affected by Covid-19.  The West Australian State Government has recently passed legislation that limits the ability of a landlord to take certain action against tenants u...

What tax risks do I take on when I become a company director? (updated)

This is a question often asked of lawyers. There are many risks a person is exposed to when they agree to become a company director.  Below is an extract from a paper I presented at a Legalwise Seminar "Business Clients: 20 Answers To Their Most Asked Questions" in Perth on 21...

Clarifying the ability of trustees to expand their powers: the decision in Re Application of Country Road Services Pty Ltd

In this article (published in the December 2019 edition of the Law Society Brief magazine) Jonathan Haeusler, Special Counsel, and Michelle Hankey, Solicitor, discuss the court’s decision in Re Application of Country Road Services Pty Ltd [2019] NSWSC 779 regarding a trustee’s role ...

Handshake deals and transfer duty: you can’t avoid paying duty by not documenting the deal

Sometimes two parties to a deal are tempted to use a "handshake agreement" to try avoid paying stamp duty/ transfer duty. Apart from the obvious legal risks about "no-paperwork deals", taking this approach to try avoid paying transfer duty simply will not work ! When is transf...

Superannuation guarantee amnesty: one last chance to pay compulsory superannuation for non-complying employers who employ "contractors"

Employee versus contractor? Are you sure? Over the past decade many Australian companies have retained the services of people who claim they are "contractors" not employees. Usually the "contractor" wants to be paid a gross fee/remuneration, stating that they will take ca...

Disclose the full upfront price or risk breaking the law: new upfront pricing laws apply

It is not uncommon for businesses to advertise a headline price for goods and services to their customers, and to only disclose optional costs in the fine print or in a manner that is not necessarily clear to customers. This is no longer permitted. Some businessess will need to change thei...

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