Winding Up a Trust – Taxation Considerations 2026 (live webinar)

Individuals use trusts to hold personal assets, investments and other income-earning assets. When a trust has outlived its purpose or reached the end of the trust’s term it will need to be would up. The winding up of a trust may trigger income tax and GST obligations. These may arise from the sale of assets or their distribution to beneficiaries as part of the wind up process.

The focus of this webinar will be on taxation issues associated with winding up a trust.

Issues examined will include:

• Income tax rules applying to distributions from trusts
• GST rules applying to distributions from trusts
• Cash distributions versus in-kind distributions
• Potential trustee liability for trust tax debts
• Impacts on shareholder continuity, the bright-line test, and depreciation claims

Upon satisfactory completion of this activity, you will be able to:

• identify potential income tax and GST issues associated with winding up a trust
• articulate these issues to your clients

This course will be suited to: 

• accountants and lawyers who act for trusts
• accountants and lawyers who are trustees of trusts and want to ensure the trust is meeting its tax obligations.

Duration: 1.00 CPD hours (approx. 55 mins content + 5 mins Q&A)

PRESENTER

Stephen Richards, Partner – Tax Advisory, Findex/Crowe
Stephen Richards is Partner in the Tax Advisory team at Findex. Findex is one of the largest providers of integrated financial advisory and accounting services to individuals, SMEs, and corporates in Australasia.
Stephen has been practising in tax advisory for over 25 years and is a sought-after speaker on tax topics, including for CCH, CAANZ, and TEO Training courses, He lectures in taxation practice at the University of Otago.
Stephen is renowned for making complex topics understandable.