Social Security (Attribution of Assets) Principles 2017

The document introduces and defines a narrow set of operational concepts that guide attribution determinations under the cited subsections of the Social Security Act. The main concepts, expressed in the text of the Principles, are as follows.

• Decision-making principles, Secretary’s duty. The Principles set out matters the Secretary must comply with when making a determination under particular subsections of the Act (s 4). They operate as mandatory considerations, requiring the Secretary to take prescribed criteria and matters into account in decision-making under the relevant subsections (see Parts 2-4).

• Genuine transfer of capital and excluded asset. Part 2 deals with a "genuine transfer of capital" by an investor who is not an attributable stakeholder when that transfer is made to a company or trust in exchange for shares or units (s 6(1)-(2)). The concept is given compound conditions in s 6(3): the investor must be over 18, must receive shares/units of equivalent value to the capital transferred, and must hold legal or equitable rights to a share of capital on winding-up and to dividends or distributions under the relevant constituent documents (s 6(3)(a)-(d). The Secretary must then consider whether, and to what extent, that transferred capital should be determined to be an excluded asset in relation to an attributable stakeholder, having regard to specified matters in s 6(4).

• Arm’s length transaction. In Parts 3 and 4 the instrument uses an "arm’s length transaction" criterion to decide whether a charge, encumbrance or unsecured loan should be treated as excluded or how it affects asset value. The arm’s length tests are substantially identical in ss 9(1) and 13(1): the transaction must be for business purposes, made under a written agreement signed by each party and witnessed by a non-party, entered into by parties meeting age/occupation thresholds, and executed for an arm’s length amount. The instrument further defines "full-time occupation" for the purposes of the age/occupation threshold in ss 9(2) and 13(2).

• Other matters for consideration. Both the excluded charge/encumbrance rules (Part 3) and the unsecured loan rules (Part 4) require the Secretary to take into account contextual matters beyond the arm’s length test. For charges/encumbrances, s 10 requires consideration of whether an individual is the sole attributable stakeholder or a member of a couple who are the only two attributable stakeholders, the commercial, social and familial relationships between parties, and the nature and circumstances of the transaction. For unsecured loans, s 14 lists similar matters and adds whether the loan is secured by a charge or encumbrance over an asset other than that described in paragraph 1208H(1)(b) of the Act (s 14(b)).

• Interaction with the Act. The Principles operate expressly for specified subsections in the Act (s 4), and they refer to provisions of the Act (for example, paragraph 1208H(1)(b)) when listing matters to be taken into account (s 14(b)). The definition section simply defines "Act" to mean the Social Security Act 1991 (s 3).

These concepts are descriptive and procedural; the instrument prescribes the matters to be considered and the conditions to be checked, rather than setting out new substantive entitlement rules or creating new civil or criminal liabilities within the text of the Principles themselves.

The Principles directly affect the Secretary of the Department of Social Services, persons whose assets may be treated as attributable under the Social Security Act, and third parties who transact with companies or trusts that have attributable stakeholders. The instrument repeatedly uses the Secretary as the decision-maker, imposing mandatory procedural considerations: for example, the Secretary "must consider" whether capital transferred by a genuine investor should be treated as an excluded asset (s 6(4)), "must take into account" whether a transaction that gave rise to a charge or encumbrance was an arm’s length transaction and the other matters in s 10 (s 8), and "must take into account" similar matters in relation to unsecured loans (s 12).

Affected groups and how they are affected, on the text of the Principles, include:

• Attributable stakeholders and social security applicants. Although the Principles do not themselves set entitlement or means-test rules, they frame how the Secretary assesses whether assets or encumbrances are to be attributed or excluded when making determinations under ss 1208E(2), 1208G(6) and 1208H(1) of the Act (s 4). Accordingly, individuals whose holdings in companies or trusts might otherwise be attributed can be affected by the Secretary’s application of these Principles; whether certain capital transfers, charges or loans are treated as excluded will influence the asset base used for social security calculations under the Act.

• Investors who are not attributable stakeholders. Part 2 is explicitly concerned with transfers of capital made by an investor who is "not an attributable stakeholder" of a company or trust (s 6(1)-(2)). Those investors are subject to the substantive conditions in s 6(3) if the capital is to be characterised as a "genuine transfer of capital" for exclusion purposes, and the Secretary must consider specified matters in s 6(4).

• Companies and trusts. The instrument applies to transfers of capital to companies and trusts, and to transactions that create charges, encumbrances or unsecured loans over assets of companies or trusts (Parts 2-4). Corporate or trust constituent documents, share or unit valuations, and the business purpose of a transaction will be relevant factual matters the Secretary must consider.

• Parties to transactions creating charges, encumbrances or loans. Where a charge, encumbrance, or unsecured loan exists, the Secretary must examine whether the transaction that gave rise to it was arm’s length, which turns on evidentiary matters such as written agreements signed and witnessed by a non-party, and whether the parties met the age/occupation thresholds (ss 9 and 13). The Secretary must also take into account commercial, social and familial relationships between the parties (ss 10 and 14). This makes the transaction parties’ documentation and the factual context directly relevant to attribution determinations.

• Couples and sole attributable stakeholders. The Principles identify particular factual scenarios to be taken into account: where an individual is the sole attributable stakeholder, or where a couple are the only two attributable stakeholders of the company or trust (s 10(a)); and the same sole/couple consideration for unsecured loans (s 14(a)). These specified configurations are singled out for consideration in any determination.

The Principles therefore create procedural obligations upon the Secretary and set expectations on third parties to ensure transaction documentation and factual circumstances can be demonstrated. They do not create new legal obligations on third parties, but the existence or absence of required documentation, and the factual matrix of relationships and transaction purpose, will influence how the Secretary determines attribution matters under the Act.

The Principles allocate duties primarily to the Secretary and set out factual criteria the Secretary must treat as relevant when making particular attribution determinations under the Act. They do not, on their face, confer new civil rights or impose direct liabilities on other parties; instead they define the decision-making framework that shapes how entitlement-relevant facts are assessed.

Primary duties for the Secretary

• Apply the Principles when making specified determinations. Section 4 states that these Principles "set out decision-making principles with which the Secretary must comply for the purposes of making a determination under subsection 1208E(2), 1208G(6) or 1208H(1) of the Act." That is a mandatory duty to follow the listed considerations in Parts 2-4 when exercising the relevant statutory discretion (s 4).

• Consider the specified factors for capital transfers. Where a non-attributable investor makes a capital transfer for shares or units, s 6(4) requires the Secretary to "consider the extent to which capital transferred … should be determined to be an excluded asset in relation to an attributable stakeholder," having regard to (a) the value of capital transferred, (b) the value of shares or units received by the investor, and (c) any extent to which the value of the capital would not be required to be disregarded by any express provision of the Act.

• Take into account arm’s length and contextual matters for charges/encumbrances. Section 8 requires that the Secretary must take into account whether the relevant transaction was an arm’s length transaction, "having regard to the criteria described in section 9," and must also take into account the matters in s 10. Section 9 sets out four specific criteria for an arm’s length transaction, including business purpose, written agreement signed and witnessed by a non-party, party age/occupation thresholds, and that the transaction is made for an arm’s length amount.

• Take into account arm’s length and contextual matters for unsecured loans. Section 12 requires the Secretary to take into account whether a transaction giving rise to an unsecured loan was arm’s length, with the arm’s length criteria set out in s 13, and the contextual matters in s 14, which mirror s 10 with an added consideration about whether the loan is secured over an asset other than that described in paragraph 1208H(1)(b) of the Act.

Prescriptive process elements

• Written, signed and witnessed agreements. The arm’s length criteria in ss 9(1)(b) and 13(1)(b) require the transaction to be "made under a written agreement that is signed by each party to the agreement, and witnessed by an individual who is not a party to the transaction." The Secretary must therefore treat existence of such documentation as relevant.

• Age and occupation thresholds. The criteria in ss 9(1)(c) and 13(1)(c) list conditions relating to party ages and occupations: parties must be at least 18 years old, or at least 16 and engaged in a full-time occupation, or at least 16 and receiving a social security entitlement. The instrument defines what "full-time occupation" includes and excludes (ss 9(2) and 13(2)).

Rights and implications for other parties

• Investors’ rights to be considered. An investor who meets the substantive conditions of s 6(3) is placed in a position where the Secretary must consider excluding the transferred capital from attribution analysis, the extent of which the Secretary must determine having regard to s 6(4). The Principles therefore create an evidential pathway by which such investors may demonstrate that a capital transfer ought to be treated as an excluded asset in relation to an attributable stakeholder.

• Transaction parties’ opportunity to demonstrate arm’s length. Parties that seek to have a charge, encumbrance or unsecured loan treated as excluded, or to avoid adverse attribution consequences, must ensure their transaction meets the arm’s length criteria and can be supported on the contextual matters the Secretary must take into account. The instrument does not state substantive entitlements to exclusion; rather it imposes a duty on the Secretary to take the listed matters into account.

Limitations in the Principles

• No penalty-creating provisions. The Principles do not specify penalties, sanctions or enforcement mechanisms; they operate to guide the Secretary’s decision-making when exercising powers under the Act. Any legal consequences that follow from a determination,such as adjustments to social security entitlement,arise from the Act itself rather than from these Principles (s 4).

In short, the document places mandatory obligations on the Secretary to apply the enumerated criteria and contextual matters when making attribution-related determinations, and it supplies transaction-level criteria parties must satisfy if they wish those transactions to be treated as arm’s length or as grounds for exclusion.

The Principles do not themselves create criminal or civil penalties, nor do they specify administrative sanctions. The text is procedural and prescriptive only with respect to the Secretary’s decision-making requirements. Section 4 states that these Principles "set out decision-making principles with which the Secretary must comply for the purposes of making a determination" under specified subsections of the Social Security Act 1991. The instrument therefore operates as an internal decision framework rather than as an enforcement code.

Consequences that flow from the Secretary’s exercise of the powers referred to in the Principles will, according to the text, derive from the Act. The Principles repeatedly reference determinations to be made under subsections 1208E(2), 1208G(6) and 1208H(1) of the Act (s 4 and Parts 2-4). Any statutory penalties, entitlement adjustments, recoveries, or administrative remedies tied to those determinations will be contained in the Act itself, not in these Principles. The Principles do not reproduce or summarise those statutory enforcement provisions, and do not specify the procedural pathway for review, appeal or merits review of a Secretary’s determination.

Operational enforcement implications in practice, insofar as the Principles themselves create duties, are:

• Duty of compliance by the Secretary. The Secretary "must" consider or take into account the listed matters in making the relevant determinations (s 6(4); s 8; s 12). Failure by the Secretary to consider these mandatory criteria could be a grounds for challenge under administrative law principles, but that consequence is not stated in the Principles; any legal remedies would arise from general law and from the Act.

• Evidentiary burden resides with transaction parties. While the Principles do not impose direct penalties, they create a decision environment where the absence of the documentary and factual elements described (for example, written and witnessed agreements, evidence of business purpose, valuations, and relationship context) will be material to the Secretary’s conclusions. In practice, this creates an incentive for parties to produce the relevant evidence if they wish the Secretary to make a favourable determination under the Act.

• Interaction with Act-based remedies. Because the Principles operate only to inform Secretary determinations under specified Act subsections, any enforcement actions, recoveries, or other statutory consequences must be sought under the Act. The Principles do not set out mechanisms for enforcement or specify how the Secretary’s consideration interacts with review pathways under the Act.

In sum, the Principles prescribe decision-making criteria and therefore influence determinations that may have enforcement or penalty consequences under the Act, but they do not themselves create or describe those penalties or enforcement mechanisms.

The Principles are explicitly tied to the Social Security Act 1991 and are formulated under section 1209E of that Act, as stated in the preamble and the name clause (preamble; s 1). Section 3 defines "Act" to mean the Social Security Act 1991. The Principles operate solely "for the purposes of making a determination under subsection 1208E(2), 1208G(6) or 1208H(1) of the Act" (s 4). Thus, their intended legal interaction is to inform how the Secretary exercises discrete powers conferred by the Act; they do not purport to modify the Act or to override other statutory provisions.

Specific interactions signalled in the text include:

• Reliance on Act definitions and provisions. The Principles refer to paragraphs and subsections within the Act. For example, s 14(b) directs the Secretary to consider "whether the loan is secured by a charge or encumbrance over an asset other than an asset described in paragraph 1208H(1)(b) of the Act." That reference makes the Act’s own definitions and categories operative for the Secretary’s analysis under these Principles. Practitioners must therefore consult the Act to understand what assets are described in paragraph 1208H(1)(b).

• Complementary, not substitutive, role. The Principles set out matters the Secretary must take into account when making an Act-based determination. They do not state entitlement rules, nor do they create independent statutory rights or penalties; instead they bind the Secretary to a decision-making process that will be applied in accordance with the Act’s substantive provisions. Any application, enforcement, or review mechanisms remain those in the Act and general administrative law.

• Reference to constituent documents and trust terms. The Principles treat legal and equitable rights under corporate constituent documents and trust terms as relevant facts. For instance, for a transfer to be a "genuine transfer of capital" the investor must have "a legal or equitable right to a share of the capital on the winding-up of the company or trust" and "a legal or equitable right to receive dividends or distributions under the constituent documents of the company or the terms of the trust" (s 6(3)(c)-(d)). Those rights are established under corporate, trust and property law, making those areas of law instrumental in providing evidence relevant to the Secretary’s social security determination.

• Evidentiary and contractual law connections. The arm’s length criteria require written agreements signed and witnessed by a non-party (ss 9(1)(b) and 13(1)(b)), which invokes principles of contract formation and evidence law when establishing whether a transaction satisfies the arm’s length test. Similarly, age and occupation thresholds touch on statutory age definitions and benefits regimes in the Act, because the instrument refers to parties receiving a social security entitlement as one of the qualifying alternatives (ss 9(1)(c)(iii), 13(1)(c)(iii)).

• Administrative law review. While not addressed in the text, because the Principles are binding considerations the Secretary "must" apply (s 4), administrative law doctrines and the review mechanisms in the Act or other statutes will govern judicial or merits review of a Secretary’s determination. The Principles themselves do not prescribe the review pathway.

Practitioners must therefore treat the Principles as a procedural companion to the substantive attribution provisions of the Social Security Act 1991. They will need to use the Act for substantive definitions and remedies, and may need to rely on corporate, trust, contract and property law to produce the documentary and legal evidence that the Secretary is required to take into account under the Principles.

The text supplied contains the original formulation particulars and commencement date, but does not record any subsequent amendments. The instrument is dated 8 March 2017 and bears the name of Finn Pratt, Secretary of the Department of Social Services, as the official who formulated the Principles under section 1209E of the Social Security Act 1991 (preamble; signature block). Section 2 states the Principles commence on 1 April 2017.

There is no language within the text that indicates any amendments, disallowances, replacements, or revocations since that commencement date. The Principles do not themselves provide a schedule of amendments, nor do they include marginal notes or amendment annotations in the provided text. The only chronological metadata present in the supplied document is the formulation date and the commencement date already noted.

Because the Principles operate as subsidiary law under the Act, any formal changes after commencement would be effected by later instruments or legislative action cited in official legislative databases. The Principles as provided should therefore be read as the 2017 instrument commencing 1 April 2017, with no amendments contained in the supplied source.

If a practitioner needs to know whether later instruments or statutory amendments have altered this instrument or the underlying Act subsections referenced (1208E(2), 1208G(6), 1208H(1), and the empowering s 1209E), those changes will not be visible in the text at hand. The Principles refer to provisions in the Act that may themselves have been amended; the Principles’ effect depends on the current form of those Act provisions, but the supplied instrument contains no subsequent amendment history.

The Principles document provided includes no litigation history. It contains no references to cases, judicial decisions, or legal challenges to its content, application, or the Secretary’s use of the Principles. The text does not cite any court or tribunal decisions, and it does not record any prior proceedings about the formulation or interpretation of these Principles.

Because the instrument is a set of departmental decision-making principles required to be applied under specified subsections of the Social Security Act 1991, any litigation arising from their application will be recorded in external sources such as tribunal decisions or court judgments concerning determinations made by the Secretary under ss 1208E(2), 1208G(6) or 1208H(1). The Principles themselves do not include or summarise such adjudications.

Practitioners interested in litigation or precedent relevant to the Secretary’s use of these Principles will need to search administrative law decisions and social security case law that engage with determinations under the cited Act subsections. None of that material is contained in the supplied instrument.

The Principles specify a number of precise factual and documentary requirements the Secretary must consider. Failure to satisfy or to document these elements can materially affect whether the Secretary will treat a transfer, charge/encumbrance, or loan as excluded or as having a particular effect on asset valuation. The following points summarise common pitfalls and traps, each grounded in the text.

• Genuine transfer technicalities (s 6). A "genuine transfer of capital" requires cumulative conditions in s 6(3): the investor must be over 18; the investor must receive shares or units "of a value that is equivalent to the value of the capital transferred"; the investor must have legal or equitable rights to a share of capital on winding-up; and the investor must have legal or equitable rights to receive dividends or distributions under the constituent documents or trust terms. A transfer that lacks any one of these elements may not meet the Principle’s formula for a genuine capital transfer, and the Secretary must only "consider the extent" to which the capital should be excluded rather than being obliged to exclude it absolutely (s 6(4)).

• Proof of equivalent value (s 6(3)(b) and s 6(4)(a)-(b)). The requirement that shares or units be of equivalent value to the capital transferred makes valuation central. The Secretary must "have regard to" the value of the capital transferred and the value of shares/units received (s 6(4)(a)-(b)). Absent contemporaneous valuation evidence, a transfer may be exposed to challenge on valuation grounds.

• Written and witnessed agreement requirement (ss 9(1)(b) and 13(1)(b)). The arm’s length tests for charges/encumbrances and unsecured loans require written agreements "signed by each party to the agreement, and witnessed by an individual who is not a party to the transaction." Agreements that are unsigned, not witnessed, or witnessed by a party will not meet this formal criterion.

• Age and occupation thresholds (ss 9(1)(c), 13(1)(c), 9(2), 13(2)). Parties must meet the age/occupation criteria. Parties under 18 must be at least 16 and engaged in a full-time occupation or receiving a social security entitlement. The definition of "full-time occupation" excludes courses of education at a school, college, university or similar institution (ss 9(2)(b) and 13(2)(b)). Misclassifying a party’s status can undermine the arm’s length finding.

• Arm’s length amount undefined (ss 9(1)(d), 13(1)(d)). The Principles require that the transaction be made for an "arm’s length amount" but do not define that term or prescribe valuation methodology. In practice, absence of an objective method or independent valuation could lead to disputes about whether the amount qualifies as arm’s length.

• Familial and social relationships (ss 10(b), 14(c)). The Secretary must consider commercial, social and familial relationships between parties. Transactions among family members, couples, or close social associates are therefore subject to heightened scrutiny under these Principles. Parties may need to anticipate that the Secretary will probe motives and relational dynamics.

• Sole attributable stakeholder or couple scenario singled out (ss 10(a), 14(a)). The Secretary is required to consider whether the individual is the sole attributable stakeholder, or a member of a couple who together are the only two attributable stakeholders. Those configurations are explicitly noted and will attract particular attention.

• Unsecured loan additional security check (s 14(b)). For unsecured loans, the Secretary must take into account whether the loan is secured by a charge or encumbrance over an asset other than an asset described in paragraph 1208H(1)(b) of the Act. The instrument assumes familiarity with the Act’s categorisation of assets; practitioners must consult the Act to determine which assets are excluded or otherwise treated specially under paragraph 1208H(1)(b). Failure to do so risks misapplying the Principles.

• Discretion remains with the Secretary (ss 6(4), 8, 12). The Principles repeatedly use phrasing such as "must consider", "must take into account" and "consider the extent to which", which confirms that the Secretary retains evaluative discretion. Even where a transaction satisfies the listed criteria, the Secretary is not required by these Principles to reach a particular result; instead the Secretary must factor the matters into the overall determination under the Act.

• Absence of remedies or procedures in the Principles. The document does not set out review or appeal procedures for an aggrieved party. Any such remedies will arise under the Act and general administrative law, rather than from the Principles themselves.

These are not hypothetical concerns; each is rooted in the text of the Principles. Practitioners should therefore ensure documentary rigour,clear valuations, formal written agreements signed and properly witnessed, evidence of business purpose, contemporaneous recording of rights on winding-up and dividend entitlements, and factual material about relationships,if they wish to rely upon the Principles to support an exclusion or an arm’s length finding.

The Principles prescribe factual and documentary criteria the Secretary must take into account, so compliance in practice requires assembling evidence and structuring transactions to align with those criteria. The following is a practical checklist, grounded in the text of the Principles, to help parties and advisers prepare material the Secretary will be required to consider.

1. Determine whether the investor is an attributable stakeholder. Part 2 applies only where the investor is "not an attributable stakeholder" (s 6(1)-(2)). Verify the investor’s status against the Act’s definition of attributable stakeholder, because the Principles operate only if that condition is met.

2. For capital transfers intended to be treated as excluded assets (s 6):

   • Establish investor age. Ensure the investor is over 18 years old, as required by s 6(3)(a).
   • Provide valuation evidence. Document contemporaneous valuations demonstrating that the shares or units issued are "of a value that is equivalent to the value of the capital transferred" (s 6(3)(b)), and retain supporting valuation reports or transactional evidence.
   • Document rights on winding-up and distributions. Ensure corporate constituent documents or trust deeds expressly record the investor’s legal or equitable rights to a share of capital on winding-up and rights to receive dividends or distributions, as required by ss 6(3)(c)-(d).
   • Compile documents for Secretary’s consideration. Prepare a concise bundle addressing s 6(4) matters: values of capital transferred and shares/units received, and any relevant express provisions of the Act that may require disregarding value.

3. For charges and encumbrances (Part 3, ss 8-10):

   • Proof of business purpose. Document the commercial, business-focused reason for the transaction, showing it was "for the purposes of the business activities of the company or trust" (s 9(1)(a)).
   • Written agreement formalities. Execute a written agreement signed by each party, with an independent witness who is not a party to the transaction, and retain the original signed and witnessed document (s 9(1)(b)).
   • Verify party eligibility. Record each party’s age and occupational status, ensuring they meet one of the alternatives in s 9(1)(c). If a party is 16-17 and claimed to be engaged in a full-time occupation, document the nature of that occupation and why it fits s 9(2)(a) (full-time occupation excludes education courses) (ss 9(1)(c), 9(2)).
   • Evidence of arm’s length amount. Obtain and preserve independent valuation evidence or other market-based evidence that the transaction was for an arm’s length amount (s 9(1)(d)).
   • Contextual evidence. Prepare material addressing the matters in s 10: whether the individual is the sole attributable stakeholder or part of an only-two attributable stakeholder couple (s 10(a)); the commercial, social and familial relationships between parties (s 10(b)); and the nature and circumstances of the transaction (s 10(c)).

4. For unsecured loans (Part 4, ss 11-14):

   • Same requirements as for charges/encumbrances. Comply with the arm’s length documentation regime in s 13, mirroring the checklist in step 3 for business purpose, written and witnessed agreement, party eligibility, and arm’s length amount.
   • Additional security check. Provide evidence whether the loan is secured by any charge or encumbrance over assets, and specifically whether any such security is over an asset other than those described in paragraph 1208H(1)(b) of the Act, because s 14(b) makes that a matter the Secretary must take into account. Consult the Act to identify which assets are described in that paragraph.
   • Contextual evidence. Address the matters listed in s 14: sole or only-two attributable stakeholder configurations (s 14(a)); the commercial, social and familial relationships (s 14(c)); and the nature and circumstances of the transaction (s 14(d)).

5. Ensure evidentiary robustness and contemporaneity. The Principles require the Secretary to consider factual contexts and documentary formalities. Present contemporaneous records: signed agreements, valuations, board or trustee minutes, share registers, trust distribution schedules, recorded consents, and witness details.

6. Anticipate Secretary discretion. The Principles require the Secretary to "consider the extent to which" an exclusion applies (s 6(4)) and to "take into account" the enumerated matters (ss 8, 12). Even if all formal criteria are satisfied, the outcome remains a matter of evaluative judgement by the Secretary. Therefore prepare persuasive, structured submissions that tie the facts to the specific textual criteria in the relevant section.

7. Cross-check against the Act. Because the Principles operate to inform determinations under specific subsections of the Social Security Act, verify the interaction with the Act, including the definitions and any express disregards noted in the Act (s 6(4)(c) and s 14(b) referencing paragraph 1208H(1)(b)). In particular, identify whether any express provision of the Act requires disregarding value, as that is a required consideration under s 6(4)(c).

8. Keep relationship disclosures frank. Because the Secretary must take into account familial and social relationships (ss 10(b), 14(c)), provide a clear statement of the relationships between parties and any family or social ties that might otherwise be inferred.

9. Check witness independence. The witnessing requirements are precise: the agreement must be witnessed by an individual who is not a party to the transaction (ss 9(1)(b), 13(1)(b)). Ensure the witness is independent and that their name and contact details are recorded.

10. Prepare for follow-up questions. The Secretary’s duty to take into account matters in the Principles implies the possibility of follow-up enquiries. Keep originals and be ready to produce further evidence of market comparators, contemporaneous business plans, or independent valuations.

Following the steps above aligns transaction documentation and factual presentation with the mandatory matters the Secretary must apply under the Principles, thereby improving the prospects that the Secretary will find the conditions required for exclusion or an arm’s length finding to be met in a particular determination.