David Hume

Insurance Australia Group is investigating the underwriter behind an allegedly unauthorised trade credit policy issued to Greensill Capital, according to a defence by the insurer in a $43 million case brought by a Credit Suisse supply chain fund left heavily exposed after Greensill’s collapse.

The ATO has won a legal challenge over when it can claim tax from trust income, with the High Court finding beneficiaries cannot “retrospectively expunge” their entitlements to the proceeds of a trust despite the potential “unfairness” this creates.

An appeals court has unanimously rejected the Commissioner of Taxation’s latest bid to block Shell’s $2.3 billion tax deduction for the cost of exploration activities conducted as part of the Browse LNG project off the coast of Western Australia.

A Federal Circuit Court judge has hit back at accusations he conducted “the grossest parody of a court hearing” when he unlawfully imprisoned a Queensland man for contempt of court, telling a trial “he is a human being [who] made a mistake”.

The NSW Court of Appeal has refused to grant Bianca Rinehart leave to appeal a decision staying a lawsuit against her mother Gina Rinehart over ownership of a $4 billion family trust.

The NSW Environment Protection Authority must develop policies to protect the environment from the threat of climate change, a judge has found in a significant victory for climate advocates.

The ATO is challenging a judge’s decision to allow oil giant Shell Australia $2.2 billion in deductions for the cost of certain exploration activities conducted under an acquisition that increased its stake in Woodside Energy’s Browse Basin gas exploration joint venture project.

The High Court has denied the ATO’s request that it weigh in on Australia’s transfer pricing regime, leaving in place a Full Court victory for mining giant Glencore that left it paying $2 million of a $92 million bill relating to the sale of copper from a mine in Cobar, NSW.

Fossil fuel giant Shell Australia has partially won a challenge to a tax office decision denying deductions claimed over an acquisition the increased the company’s stake in Woodside Energy’s Browse Basin gas exploration joint venture project.

The High Court has granted special leave in a test case by the Australian Taxation Office concerning the effectiveness of disclaimers by trust beneficiaries giving up entitlements to trust income and any associated tax obligations.