Global Trade Alert

The Gillard Government has introduced amendments to the tax legislation to facilitate investment. 
 
According to report by Baker & McKenzie, the amendements primarily concern the Managed Investment Funds (MIT), or an investment vehicle of choice for cross-border and domestic investments in property, equities and other qualifying assets. The MITs will be required to have "substantial proportion" of investment activities carried out in Australia, as opposed to previous requirement of "(all) investment management activities" to be considered as MIT. Also, widely-held requirements for registered wholesale, registered non-wholesale, and non-registered wholesale trusts, as well as regulations regarding closely-held restrictions, start-up phase and transitional rules were made more lenient. 
 
In conclusion, the Government has deregulated the operations of MITs, and hence improved the attractiveness of investment to Australia.