A cumulative fine of $33.5 million and criminal convictions and fines imposed on the CEOs have been recently handed down by the Federal Court following criminal cartel conduct.
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A decision by the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales appears to provide certainty for the payroll tax obligations of operators of medical, dental and allied health practices.
It has long been thought that the payments by medical, dental and allied health practices practice to healthcare providers, where structured properly, were not subject to payroll tax. However, this view has proven to be mistaken over the last 4 years, although it has been unclear whether all medical, dental and allied health practices are caught, irrespective of how they structure their arrangements.
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It is often necessary to vary a trust deed for various reasons. The problem is that sometimes, particularly with older trusts, the deed does not provide the trustee with the power to vary the deed or the power is not sufficiently broad to make the necessary amendment.
Fortunately the Trustee Act 1925 (NSW) now provides trustees facing such a situation with an alternative option."
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Parliament has now passed the much anticipated changes to competition and consumer laws which means businesses will now face higher penalties for beach of competition and consumer laws and new penalties for unfair contract terms.
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Do you need to pay duty on transactions that were not previously dutiable in NSW? From 20 May 2022, the answer could be yes.
From 20 May 2022, the New South Wales duties net has been considerably widened. While the scope of the changes is not yet fully known, it is clear that duty is now imposed on transactions that were not previously dutiable in New South Wales:
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The Australasian Food Group (trading as Peters Ice Cream) (Peters Ice Cream) has been ordered to pay a $12 million penalty after engaging in exclusive dealing practices. The Federal Court has also ordered the ice cream giant to establish a compliance program for a period of three years and pay contribution to the ACCC's legal costs.
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Have you ever thought about buying something and then immediately find a raft of online advertisements coming up on your phone for that exact same thing?
The ACCC is now focused on taking enforcement action against businesses participating in "manipulative techniques to exploit or pressure [consumers], and other practices that seek to distort or disregard their consumer choice in the digital economy" says ACCC Chair Rod Sims.
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In early January 2022, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) commenced its industry wide investigation of both suppliers and retailers in relation to the pricing of rapid antigen tests as demands for the tests far exceeded available stock within weeks of the of the COVID-19 Omicron outbreak in December 2021.
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On 24 January 2020, the Court ordered penalties against Geowash, the director and the franchising manager. The focus of this article is about how directors can be personally liable when a company breaches the law.
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