2025 Year End Game Plan

Our 2025 Year-End Game Plan is designed to help you fulfill your tax obligations while strategically working to reduce your tax, plan effectively, and improve cash flow management.

As we approach June 30, there are key actions that need to be completed in a specific order to ensure a smooth process. Our 2025 Year-End Game Plan services are tax-deductible, providing you with valuable insights and financial benefits as you prepare for the year ahead.

2025 Year End Game Plan

Discretionary (Family) Trust Distributions
Tax Planning
FBT Return
PCG 2021/4 Professional Firm Profit (where applicable)

DISCRETIONARY (FAMILY) TRUST DISTRIBUTIONS

Recent Changes To Tax Laws and Family Trust Law

Over the past three years, we’ve seen some of the most significant changes to tax laws in decades, particularly affecting Family Trusts. These include:

ATO Tax Rulings (S100A) – New interpretations may limit how profits from a Family Trust can be distributed to family members.
Court Decision on Trust Distributions – A ruling reversed a Trustee’s distribution after beneficiaries challenged the allocation.
Updated ATO Guidance for Professionals – Restrictions now apply to how professionals distribute income within their family group.
Increased ATO Focus on Personal Services Income (PSI) – Tighter regulations may affect income distribution strategies.

Looking ahead, the Federal Budget in March 2025 and the anticipated May election could introduce further tax and superannuation changes. Additionally, pre-30 June planning remains a valuable opportunity to optimize tax outcomes.

We’re here to help you understand and navigate these changes with expert tax and accounting advice, ensuring a well-prepared and strategic approach leading up to 30 June 2025.

Discretionary (Family) Trust Distributions

Here is the order of our key services we recommend you will need over the coming months:

In March/April 2025, we recommend reviewing your Trust Deed to assess whether any variations are needed to manage beneficiary entitlements and mitigate risks.

In June 2025, based on your Tax Planning Report, we will prepare your 2025 Trust Distribution Resolution for any Discretionary or Family Trusts. Signing this before 30 June is essential to avoid the ATO taxing trust profits at 47%.

As part of this, we will also provide Payment Instructions, which beneficiaries can sign in July 2025 to confirm trust payments comply with ATO requirements and are not classified as a “reimbursement agreement” under S100A—helping to prevent unexpected tax liabilities.

Family Trust Distributions

Our advice will ensure that:

Your Trust Deed doesn’t expose you to beneficiaries forcing the Trustee to pay them profits from your Trust.
Your 2025 Trust Distributions will be signed before 30 June 2025 to avoid your Trust being taxed at 47% of its profits.
You will have taken specific steps to make it very difficult for the ATO to apply its new interpretation of S100A to your Trust and impose tax at 47% on certain Trust distributions.

REDUCING YOUR TAX + PLANNING FOR YOUR TAX PAYMENTS

Reducing Your Tax + Planning For Your Tax Payments

Here is the order of the key tax planning services we recommend for you over the coming months:

In May 2025, we’ll assess tax-saving strategies following the Federal Budget.

In May/June, we can provide a Tax Planning Report outlining tailored actions to minimise tax, including optimal profit distribution within your family group.

Based on this report, we’ll prepare your 2025 Trust Distribution Resolution, which must be signed before 30 June to avoid the ATO taxing trust profits at 47%.

In July, we can create a TaxFlow Projection Plan, summarising your tax obligations over the next 18 months in a clear cash flow format. This helps with budgeting and exploring options to adjust PAYG installments if needed.

2025 Tax Planning Report - Benefits

Our advice will help you to:

Reduce your tax payable.
Work out the best way to distribute business profits to your family to provide for their needs.
Have the information needed to prepare your Trust Distribution Resolutions
Understand what your next 18 months tax payments are and when they are due.

FBT – REDUCE ATO AUDIT PERIOD + FINALISING YOUR 2025 STP INFORMATION

Why you must lodge a Fringe Benefits Tax Return

Key Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) services we recommend

In April 2025, you’ll need to complete our FBT Questionnaire to help determine any fringe benefits provided and the applicable tax.

In April/May, we recommend lodging your 2025 FBT Return, even if no FBT is payable. Filing ensures the ATO’s audit period is limited to three years instead of an unlimited review period.

Before 14 July, we’ll provide a reportable benefits summary for your Single Touch Payroll (STP) finalisation, ensuring compliance with ATO reporting requirements for employee income statements.

Lodgement of 2025 Fringe Benefits Tax Return

Lodging your 2024/25 FBT Return limits the ATO’s audit period to three years, reducing the risk of future FBT liabilities and penalties.

PCG 2021/4 – PROFESSIONAL FIRM PROFIT

PCG explained and who it affects

The ATO guidance (PCG 2021/4) totally changes the way that professional firm profits can be allocated (or split) among a family group from 1 July 2022 onwards.

As a result, most professionals will end up paying larger amounts of tax from the 2023 financial year onwards. The new ATO guidelines requires Professional Firm clients (Eg, Accountant, lawyers, professional services, architects etc) to annually review their allocation of professional firm profits and then to document their assessment of their eligibility to apply the PCG 2021/4 guidelines.

PLAN OF WORK AND PRICE

DATE	ACTION	WHY IS THIS NEEDED? (BENEFIT TO YOU)	PRICE ESTIMATE EX GST
April 2025	Trust Deed Review	Understand if your Trust Deed needs to be varied before 30 June 2025 to exclude specific beneficiaries who could try to take over your Trust	NIL for Review, price to be quoted for variation
April 2025	2025 Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) Return preparation + lodgement	- FBT ATO audit period restricted to 3 years - STP Reportable Benefits for employees	$500 - $2,000
May 2025	Professional Services PCG	- Annual review of your profit allocation and document your assessment with a grading under the PCG 2021/4 guidelines.	$1,000
May + June 2025	2025 Tax Planning review + Federal Election update	- Reduce your 2025 tax - Understand your key pre-30 June 2025 year-end business actions	$750 - $2,000
June 2025	2025 Trust Distribution Resolution preparation + Beneficiary Payment Instructions	- Ensure your Trust is not taxed at 47% on its profits	$350 per Trust Additional $250 for Beneficiary Payment Instructions
	IF APPLICABLE Section 100A Trust Distribution Advice Report	- Outline the impact of the s100A guidelines which changes the way profits from a Discretionary Trust (also known as a Family Trust) can be allocated.	From $500
July 2025	18 Month Tax Flow Projection	Know when your tax is payable	$350