In Commissioner of Taxation v Bendel [2026] HCA 18, the High Court rejected the ATO's long-standing view that an unpaid distribution owed by a trust to a corporate beneficiary automatically constitutes a loan under Division 7A.

Ride-sharing, short-term accommodation, freelance work and digital content can all generate income that needs to be declared. With the ATO expanding its data-matching under the Sharing Economy Reporting Regime, good records matter more than ever.