If the deceased had any unapplied net capital losses when they died, these cannot be passed on to you as the beneficiary or legal personal representative for you to offset against any net capital gains.
Life and remainder interests
There may be CGT consequences on the creation, surrender, expiry or disposal of a life interest or remainder interest.
See also:
- Taxation Ruling TR 2006/14 Income tax: capital gains tax: consequences of creating life and remainder interests in property and of later events affecting those interests
Trustee choice to be assessed on capital gains
From 2010–11 the trustee of a resident trust may choose (if permitted by the trust deed) to be assessed on a capital gain of the trust. This is allowed provided no beneficiary has received any amount referable to the gain during 2020–21 or within two months of the end of 2020-21 income year. The choice must be made in respect of the whole capital gain.
This is similar to (and replaced) the choice available to the trustee of a testamentary trust under the law prior to the 2010–11 amendments, but is not limited to those trustees. Under the previous law (that applied from 2005–06) the trustee of a resident testamentary trust could choose to be assessed on the capital gains for an income year which would otherwise be assessed to an income beneficiary (or the trustee on their behalf).
The trustee will be able to make the choice if, for example, under the terms of the trust the income beneficiary cannot benefit from the capital gains. Only the trustee can make this choice.
If the trustee makes a choice in respect of a capital gain then:
- the trustee will be assessed on the capital gain under section 99 or 99A, as appropriate
- the capital gain is not taken into account in working out any beneficiary's net capital gain for 2020–21.
Example 109: Trustee choice to be assessed
Marcia is entitled to all the income of a resident trust for the duration of her life. Under the terms of the trust deed, the trust would be wound up on her death and the corpus distributed to Trevor.
While Marcia is alive, the trustee disposes of some shares in the trust and makes a capital gain. Marcia is not entitled under the terms of the trust to receive the proceeds from the disposal of the shares as Trevor is the capital beneficiary.
As the capital gain is included in the net income of the trust for tax purposes, Marcia may be assessed on her share of the capital gain even though she is not entitled to benefit from the gain. The trustee can make a choice to be assessed on the share of the capital gain that would otherwise be assessed to Marcia.
End of example