Dead people are failing to pay tax on investments

You can take it with you 

 In Australia you can maintain your investments in shares long after you have died. 

For example, a man who lived in Melbourne, let's call him "Peter", died in December 2013 owning a number of shares in a large Australian company. 

Nine years after Peter died, in 2022, his shares were bought by a German company that compulsorily acquired shares owned by everybody, including people who had died and, like Peter, continued to own shares in the same Australian company. Peter was paid a little over $200,000 for his shares. He did not actually receive any money, because he died in 2013. 

Whether Peter is now liable to pay capital gains tax as a result of his shares being sold is not certain. 

Do dead people have to lodge tax returns and pay capital gains tax on the sale of shares they own after they have died? 

This is an extract of a letter sent to Peter and other shareholders to inform him that his shares were being sold. The extract was copied from this Listcorp web page.

29 April 2022 

Dear Sirs/Madams

HOCHTIEF Australia Holdings Limited – Compulsory acquisition of shares in CIMIC Group Limited (ASX: CIM) following takeover bid 

We act for HOCHTIEF Australia Holdings Limited ACN 103 181 675 ("HOCHTIEF"). 

We refer to HOCHTIEF's off-market takeover bid for all the ordinary shares in CIMIC Group Limited ACN 004 482 982 ("CIMIC") in which it does not already have a relevant interest which will close at 7.00pm (Sydney time) on10 May 2022 ("Offer"). 

As at the date of this letter, HOCHTIEF has a relevant interest in at least 90% of the ordinary shares in CIMIC and at least 75% of the ordinary shares in CIMIC that HOCHTIEF offered to acquire under the Offer. Accordingly, in accordance with Part 6A.1 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) ("Act"), HOCHTIEF is exercising its right to commence the process of compulsorily acquiring the remaining ordinary shares in CIMIC in which it does not already have a relevant interest. 

In accordance with section 661B(1)(d) of the Act, we enclose:

1. a letter to the remaining holders of ordinary shares in CIMIC; and
2. an ASIC Form 6021: Notice of Compulsory Acquisition Following Takeover Bid,

(together the "Documents"). 

The Documents were lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and sent to CIMIC today, and will be dispatched to the remaining CIMIC shareholders in accordance with section 661B(1)(c) and 661B(2)of the Act.

Home Energy Storage Module at half the price of Battery Energy Storage

No need for cold showers 

Suppose a manufacturer made a simple home energy storage module that cost about half the price of a Battery Energy Storage System with similar capacity. 

The module would be designed to store 10 kWh of output from a rooftop solar PV system - avoiding the need to export the 10 kWh for just a few cents for a feed-in-tariff. If your Feed-in-Tariff is 5 cents per kWh, you would forego this income by saving the energy and not exporting it. (This costs 50 cents per day for the 10 kWh that is stored in the module). 

The module would avoid the need to purchase about the same amount of energy that it stored each day.  If the retail price is 40 cents per kWh that you buy, then you could save this expense by using the 10 kWh of stored energy. (This saves $4 per day for the 10 kWh stored in the module).

A saving of $3.50 per day adds up to about $1,260 a year. In 5 years you should expect to save over $6,000 in energy bills. 

This saving is about the expected cost of the Home Energy Storage Module that could store 10 kWh. 

The energy stored in the Home Energy Storage Module provides enough energy each day to heat hot water used on average by a household of 3 (around 60 litres of hot water per person each day). 

Because this stored energy is very cheap rooftop solar PV energy that would have to be exported for a low Feed-in-Tariff if it was not stored, there is no need, and little additional saving, in upgrading to a Hot Water Heat Pump System that costs around $5,500. 

Cold water flows through the heat energy storage module where it is preheated, thanks to solar PV electricity that would otherwise have been exported for only a 2 to 5 cents feed-in-tariff, and then flows into an existing hot water system. 

The existing hot water system will use little energy, either electricity or natural gas, when the water has been preheated by the heat energy storage module. Any time there is insufficient solar PV electricity, the existing hot water system will use a little more energy than usual. There will be no shortage of hot water because of a few cloudy days.  

A heat energy storage module to preheat water and store solar PV output

 

Arithmetic and Value for Money 

An web page by the ACT Government "Singing in the shower – a guide to hot water heat pumps" recommends an upgrade to a Hot Water Heat Pump System. It includes some calculated annual energy cost comparisons and concludes the system cost of a system to heat 300 litres a day will be recovered in 5 to 6 years. 

These calculations require an assumption about estimating the savings if the heat pump is to heat 300 litres of water a day. The comparison doesn't say what the assumptions are, or that on average, people use about 60 litres of hot water a day. If the Hot Water Heat Pump System is used to provide hot water for a home with 5 residents, the calculations are reasonable and the pay back period is likely to be around 5 to 6 years. 

However, if only two people occupy the premises with the Hot Water Heat Pump System then the energy savings are for heating only 120 litres of hot water a day. With these lower savings, it would take 12 to 16 years for the savings to equal the cost of the Hot Water Heat Pump System. 

The cost of a battery and a heat pump can be avoided with a much cheaper, and simpler appliance to store surplus solar PV electricity, and provide a return on the investment a lot faster. 

See for example "heatBoxx : Optimized & effective heat storage made to measure", an application using phase change materials such as soy wax to store thermal energy that is used to preheat hot water before it enters your existing gas or electric hot water system. 

If there is plenty of stored thermal energy in molten wax inside the thermal energy store, your existing hot water system will use little or no energy to finish heating the water to the required temperature. If there has been a long run of cloudy days, your existing hot water system will use a little more energy and still ensure adequate hot water is available.  

New replacements for natural gas

A great many gasification technologies exist - all of which were developed before the price of solar PV panels fell dramatically. 

 This fall in the price of solar PV panels  has ground-breaking implications for natural gas replacements. 

All plant material is assembled inside plant cells from water and carbon dioxide using solar energy. The process is photosynthesis and it stores solar energy. Bush fires burn ferociously because of the amount of solar energy stored in plant material such as leaves, wood and grass. 

All reactions that store solar energy in plant material are minor variations of:

• One molecule of carbon dioxide from the air is split into a carbon atom and an oxygen molecule, 
• The oxygen molecule is released into the atmosphere, and 
• The carbon atom is added to a cross-linked molecule of plant material (such as cellulose or lignin) together with one molecule of water.

This simplified model could be represented:

(CH₂O)_n + CO₂ + H₂O =>  (CH₂O)_(n+1) + O₂

The resulting plant material can be considered approximately to be cross-linked collections of carbon atoms with one water molecule for each carbon atom. 

Because of the collapse in the price of solar PV panels, all existing methods of making replacements for natural gas from plant material use some of the energy embedded in the plant material, creating carbon dioxide and methane. 

It is inevitable that the methane created embodies LESS energy than was present in the plant material. 

The low cost of solar PV panels crucially changes the feasible processes for making methane from plant material. 

The plant material can be reacted with pure hydrogen, and NOT oxygen, to make methane and water vapour at a high temperature. 

The water vapour can be split into hydrogen and oxygen molecules with high-temperature electrolysis with electricity generated solar PV panels. 

The hydrogen produced by high-temperature electrolysis of water vapour is reacted with more plant material, continuing the conversion of all the available plant material is converted into methane and oxygen. 

There is no carbon dioxide produced, so no carbon dioxide storage is required and the cost of storing carbon dioxide is avoided. 

The methane produced embodies the energy that was available in the plant material PLUS additional energy from the solar PV panels used to electrolyze water vapour into hydrogen and oxygen. 

 

Further reading: "Coupling hydropyrolysis and vapor-phase catalytic hydrotreatment to produce biomethane from pine sawdust" at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37423544/ .

 

Dispatchable power and dispatchable internet of things

The National Electricity Market in Australia experiences periods where more electricity is supplied than is needed, and periods where demand exceeds the available supply. 

"Dispatchable power" has been mentioned as a partial remedy to the latter periods.

The ability to remotely turn off rooftop solar PV systems and air conditioners has been mentioned as a partial remedy to the former periods. 

A more flexible solution is available, one echoes a feature in operating systems design, where hundreds of concurrent processes queue to use scarce resources and relinquish them when finished or surrendered.

Appliances and devices can be equipped with smart switches that send one of several status signals to distributed National Electricity Market management systems: 

• "I am not currently consuming electricity, but can if requested."
• "I am currently consuming electricity, but can pause if requested."
• "I am not currently sending electricity to the grid, but can if requested."
• "I am currently sending electricity to the grid, but can pause if requested."

The appropriate subset of status signalling, and the ability to respond to a request, can be incorporated into existing devices, including:

• Hot Water Storage systems,
• Home Battery Energy Storage systems,
• Pool pumps and heaters,
• Air conditioners,
• Rooftop solar PV systems, and
• Electric Vehicles.

There is a substantial cost in not having this approach to managing the National Electricity Market. 

In November 2024, over $700 million was paid by retailers in NSW for electricity used in just 7 hours and 40 minutes. This was more than the total paid for ALL the electricity the retailers purchased for the entire remainder of the month.

This pushed to average electricity price for NSW in November 2024 to $263.46 per megawatt hour (MWh). 

In December 2024, with fewer extreme price periods, the average wholesale price for NSW was only $164.72 per megawatt hour (MWh).

The National Electricity Market compels consumers to pay exorbitant prices for electricity

It would have helped if any electricity consumed in those 7 hours and 40 minutes with exceptionally high prices in NSW in November 2024 could have been postponed by just 5 or 10 minutes. 

There were also far more periods when the National Electricity Market price was exceptionally low. 

If more electricity had been consumed in those periods, avoiding the need to consume in other periods with higher prices, the average cost of electricity could be further reduced.

See "How to lower the price of electricity" for more analysis of data from the National Electricity Market.

Better appliances to work with rooftop solar PV systems

Households and businesses with rooftop solar PV systems produce so much electricity in the middle of the day that feed-in tariffs are going down fast, and there are moves afoot to be able to turn them off to avoid overloading the electricity grid with surplus electricity. 

However electricity bills are kept high by the price of electricity that increases in the mid to late afternoon as air-conditioning loads increase at the same time solar PV output is falling. 

If your business or household is exporting a large amount of electricity in the middle of the day, and paying a large amount for electricity used later in the day, more suitable appliances can be available to save you money.

There are air-conditioning options that can shift energy use from late afternoon, when cooling is needed, to the middle of the day, when electricity from solar PV systems is at a peak. 

An insulated storage tank that holds 3,000 litres of water costs about $4,000 - using a "Slim Steel" water tank, R7.0 ceiling insulation and a garden storage shed - all available at Bunnings. 

Kingspan 3000L Slim Steel Water Tank - 850mm x 1860mm x 2300mm - $2,695

Cooling 3,000 litres of water from 20℃ to 5℃ uses about 18 kWh of electricity - assuming a water chiller with a co-efficient of performance (COP) of 3 is used.

The cooling can be done in the middle of the day using only solar PV generated electricity. 

The chilled water is then available for air-conditioning later in the day - avoiding the need to run reverse-cycle air-conditioners using electricity from the National Electricity Market - where the price can go as high as $15,000 per MWh ($15 per kWh) in some 5-minute intervals.  

Water Source Heat Pumps (WSHP) use chilled water to cool the air in summer, (or heated water to warm air in winter) unlike typical reverse cycle units which rely on external fan assisted condensers to exchange energy with the outside air.

Energy Storage without the cost of a battery

News articles grab attention with stories that electricity utilities may want to turn off rooftop solar PV systems at times, and to turn off air conditioning systems at other times. 

What you won't find are articles on how appliances provide options for individuals and businesses themselves to adjust their energy production and consumption to best support the electricity grid. These options do not require any power for electricity utilities to interfere in how people run their own homes and businesses. 

How a Hot Water System can provide 4 kilowatt hours or more energy storage 

Many hot water systems are designed to operate as follows: 

1. Heat water to a minimum of 60℃. This is to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria. 
2. Ensure water is delivered from the hot water system at no more than 50℃. This is to lower the risk of scald injuries. 
3. Optionally, heat water to a maximum of 70℃ or 75℃. This is to allow more hot water, at 50℃, to be available. 

The delivery temperature of 50℃ is achieved by mixing the stored hot water with some cold water in a Temperature Limiting Device. 

 

The amount of energy needed to heat 90 litres of water from 60℃ to 70℃ is 1 kilowatt hour.

A 360-litre Hot Water System, for instance, can be used to store 4 kilowatt hours of electrical energy by raising the temperature of water in it from 60℃ to 70℃. 

There is no need to buy a battery to store energy if you own a suitable Hot Water System. 

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The Argument for Smart Switches

Time of Use charging has long been proposed to "encourage" electricity consumers to avoid using electricity at times when demand is highest. However, if you examine the National Electricity Market data, you will find that this is not especially helpful. The reason is that there are periods of extremely high wholesale (NEM) prices when demand is relatively low, and conversely, there are times when there are very low wholesale prices when demand is quite high. Moreover, these intervals do not conveniently coincide with any particular time of the day that "Time of Use" charging requires.

It is more appropriate to adjust the system so that electricity is preferably consumed when the wholesale (NEM) price is relatively low, and avoid consuming electricity at those times when the price is extremely high. This can be implemented with "smart chargers" that examine the NEM price before deciding whether to store energy - in a Hot Water System, an Electric Vehicle Battery, or a Home Battery.

Analysis of the National Electricity Market Data for NSW in November and December 2024 (see "How to lower the price of electricity") that shows that the price of electricity consumed in a small proportion of the time contributed enormously to the overall cost of electricity consumed in those months. Smart switches that help to reduce electricity consumed in such periods, and preferably store more electricity whenever the price is relatively low, can lower the total cost.

Moving millions of dollars from Australia to New Zealand - Does the ATO ignore suspicious dealings

 A Kiwi used a strange process to move over $65 million from Australia to New Zealand.

The Australian Taxation Office has wide-ranging data gathering and analysis capabilities. It is inconceivable that it did not detect this case and cannot detect many cases like the one described here. 

Records available in the New Zealand company office show: 

1. $11 million was transferred between a set of New Zealand companies created a few days before, and removed soon after, where one person controlled all the companies used: 

2. $54 million was transferred between a set of New Zealand companies created a few days before, and removed soon after, where the same person controlled all the companies used: 

The destination of the first transfer, of $11 million, is mentioned again in an Annual Report of the company named Stockton Assets Limited: 

The source of the $millions

Companies in Australia are identified as shareholders in Priority Investments Limited, the New Zealand company name used in the transfer of the $millions: 

Australian company office records point to two significant pieces of information about these two companies: 

1. The person who controlled the New Zealand companies that received the funds is the same person who controlled these Australian companies, and

2. Rocksprings Enterprises Limited, the New Zealand company that received the funds in New Zealand - as a loan - was the ultimate owner of the two Australian companies that was the source of the money sent from Australia to New Zealand.

A List of Source Documents and Entities Involved

The documents are available for browsing at google drive => See the list of documents here

A list of source documents and entities involved

 

Click on the title to view the documents in this list. Each document opens in a new tab.

1.       Priority Investments Limited and subsidiary companies

a.        Annual Report for the period ended 30 June 1997

b.       Signed by Director John Leslie Thompson 29 September 2000

c.        Lodged with Company Office 12 March 2001

2.       Stockton Assets Limited

a.        Annual Report for the period ended 30 June 1997

b.       Signed by Director John Leslie Thompson 29 September 2000

c.        Lodged with Company Office 12 March 2001

3.       Priority Investments Limited

a.        Annual Report for the period ended 30 June 1998

b.       Signed by Director John Leslie Thompson 29 September 2000

c.        Lodged with Company Office 12 March 2001

4.       Priority Investments Limited

a.        Annual Report for the period ended 30 June 1999

b.       Signed by Director John Leslie Thompson 24 December 2000

c.        Lodged with Company Office 12 March 2021

5.       Priority Investments Limited

a.        Annual Report for the period ended 30 June 2000

b.       Signed by Director John Leslie Thompson 25 October 2001

c.        Lodged with Company Office ?

6.       Priority Investments Limited (862094)

a.        Annual return for 2000 – online document filing

b.       Directors and Shareholders –

Directors

John Leslie Thompson

685 Peninsula Road, Kelvin Heights, Queenstown, New Zealand

Shareholders

Oriano Golo (sic Gold) Pty Limited – 11,445,100 shares

Level 1, 21-23 Grosvenor Street, Neutral Bay, NSW 2089, Australia

Technomin Australia Pty Ltd – 54,404,000 shares

Level 1, 21-23 Grosvenor Street, Neutral Bay, NSW 2089, Australia

c.        Is the company a subsidiary of a company incorporated outside New Zealand? Yes

d.       Are 25% or more of voting shares held by a person / body corporate ordinarily resident outside New Zealand? Yes

7.       Priority Investments Limited

a.        Annual Report for the period ended 30 June 2001

b.       Signed by Director John Leslie Thompson 25 October 2001

c.        Lodged with Company Office ?

8.       Priority Investments Limited

a.        Annual Report for the period ended 30 June 2002

b.       Signed by Director John Leslie Thompson 29 January 2003

c.        Lodged with Company Office 24 March 2003

9.       Priority Investments Limited

a.        Statement of Financial Performance for the period ended 30 June 2003

b.       Lodged with Company Office ?

10.  Priority Investments Limited

a.        Annual Report for the period ended 30 June 2004

b.       Signed by Director John Leslie Thompson 23 November 2004

c.        Lodged with Company Office ?

11.  Priority Investments Limited

a.        Change of Shareholders – lodged 28 November 2006

Shareholders – Current

Rocksprings Enterprises Limited – 65,849,100 shares

685 Peninsula Road, Kelvin Heights, Queenstown, New Zealand

Shareholders – Previous

Technomin Australia Pty Ltd – 54,404,000 shares

Level 1, 21-23 Grosvenor Street, Neutral Bay, NSW 2089, Australia

Shareholders – Removed

Oriano Golo (sic Gold) Pty Limited – 11,445,100 shares

Level 1, 21-23 Grosvenor Street, Neutral Bay, NSW 2089, Australia

12.  Priority Investments Limited

a.        Change of Shareholders – lodged 3 April 2009

Shareholders - Current

Wayne Jones – 65,849,100 shares

12 Llandilo Avenue, Strathfield, New South Wales, Australia

Shareholders - Previous

Rocksprings Enterprises Limited – 65,849,100 shares

685 Peninsula Road, Kelvin Heights, Queenstown, New Zealand

13.  Technomin Australia Pty Limited

a.        ASIC Current and Historical Information

Director – 25 Jul 1986 to 4 Nov 2017

John Leslie Thompson

685 Peninsula Road, Kelvin Heights, Queenstown, New Zealand

Director – 4 Jun 2008 to 27 Jun 2009

Rebecca Catherine Thompson

20 Falls Street, Leichhardt, NSW 2040

Director – 28 Jan 1997 to 4 Jun 2008

Malcolm John Kendall

12 Endeavour Street, Sylvania, NSW 2224

Registered Address – 17 Oct 1994 to 29 Oct 2007

Level 1, 21-23 Grosvenor Street, Neutral Bay, NSW 2089

Ultimate Holding Company – 28 Jan 1996 to 18 Jan 2015

Rocksprings Enterprises Limited

14.  Oriana Gold Pty Limited – 11 Aug 1994 to 10 Dec 2007

a.        ASIC Current and Historical Information

Director – 5 Jun 2008

Wayne Jones

12 Llandilo Avenue, Strathfield, New South Wales, Australia

Director – 25 Sep 1986 to 5 Jun 2008

John Leslie Thompson

685 Peninsula Road, Kelvin Heights, Queenstown, New Zealand

Director – 28 Jan 1997 to 4 Jun 2008

Malcolm John Kendall

12 Endeavour Street, Sylvania, NSW 2224

Registered Address – 17 Oct 1994 to 29 Oct 2007

Level 1, 21-23 Grosvenor Street, Neutral Bay, NSW 2089

Ultimate Holding Company

Rocksprings Enterprises Limited

Shareholder – 16 May 2024

Wayne Jones

12 Llandilo Avenue, Strathfield, New South Wales, Australia

Previous Shareholder – 26 Jun 2008

Agriwealth Pty Limited

PO BOX 718, Neutral Bay NSW 2089

Previous Shareholder – 24 Oct 2007

Technomin Australia Limited

PO BOX 718, Neutral Bay NSW 2089

15.  Rocksprings Enterprises Limited

a.        New Zealand Company Extract

Incorporated – 9 Jun 1994

Director

John Leslie Thompson

685 Peninsula Road, Kelvin Heights, Queenstown, New Zealand

Shareholder

John Leslie Thompson – 117 shares

685 Peninsula Road, Kelvin Heights, Queenstown, New Zealand