As part of the ATO’s Modernisation of Trust Administration Systems project, new tax return changes effective from the 2023–24 income year require all beneficiaries who receive trust income from 1 July 2023 to lodge the new TIS with their tax return.

Class Trust enables accountants to auto-complete and reconcile income distributed from trusts, including unlisted trusts, listed securities, managed funds and stapled securities into the TIS, eliminating the need for manual entry.

Class CEO Tim Steele said this latest enhancement highlights the ability of Class Trust to support accountants in adapting to regulatory changes and efficiently managing the complexity of administering trusts.

“Class Trust is designed to provide accountants with an automated, streamlined and compliant TIS which simplifies the administration of trust entities at tax time while also reducing the complexities of reporting and lodgment requirements,” he said.

“Trusts are often in the spotlight, and its critical accountants efficiently adapt to new regulations so they can continue to cost-effectively deliver great client outcomes.”

Other features of Class Trust include automated investment tracking and reconciliation, which will save hours of manual entry and the generation of financial statements and tax reports on demand, customised to any firm’s needs.

Additionally, the enhanced platform will simplify trust administration through a standardised approach, regardless of which team member is preparing the accounts, and will make real-time distribution decisions before 30 June based on up-to-date information, accessing financial year-to-date income, franking credits, and capital gains at any time.

It will also streamline the application of tax statement components to distribution income, reducing manual data entry and tax reconciliation preparation for lodgment and the ATO’s new TIS.

Finally, the software will save time with automatic calculation of income components available for each beneficiary, including our powerful income streaming feature and lodge tax returns electronically with the ATO.