Ann: Change of Director's Interest Notice - Turcinov, page-12

You guys simply don;t understand Australia's absurd tax rules.

Staff/directors paid in shares attract a tax obligation as if they were tax. It is absolutely ridiculous as, until they are sold, they have $0.00 value.

So if you are given 100,000 shares that are worth $1.00 at the time you have to pay tax on the equivalent $100,000. Even though those shares might end up worth $0.00.

So if you don't sell cash them in you risk having paid tax (say $40,000) and getting no payment ($0.00) - how f*ed is that.

So for those who are paid in shares the decision is agonising as whether to hold or sell and requires them to have substantial spare cash to cover the cost of the tax and their day to day living expenses.

Taking out a loan would add interest payments to the tax burden heightening the risk further.

The company should be judged on its business performance, not on whether a director / staffer sells shares to meet their absurd tax obligation.