On Wed 27.1.2016, the ATO issued GST Determination GSTD 2016/1 on whether employers can claim input tax credits (ITCs) for expenses paid on behalf of superannuation funds. The Determination notes that an employer may, for “administrative convenience”, pay expenses on behalf of a fund, with the payment being re-classified as a superannuation contribution in the…
The taxpayer has appealed to the Federal Court against the decision in Re Ward and FCT [2015] AATA 919. In that the decision, the AAT agreed with the Commissioner that there were no “special circumstances” under s 292-465 of the ITAA 1997 to disregard or re-allocate the taxpayer’s excess non-concessional contributions for a year, despite the…
Accountants providing advice on self-managed super funds (SMSFs) will have to be appropriately licensed, under the AFS Licensing framework, before July 1 2016. ASIC recently set a ‘soft’ deadline for limited AFSL applications – stating that accountants who lodge their applications after 1 March 2016 run a “significant risk’ of not being assessed by the…
The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) is warning thousands of charities, yet to complete their 2015 Annual Information Statement, that there are serious consequences for not meeting this core obligation. ACNC Commissioner, Susan Pascoe AM, urged charities to act now as 31 January 2016 is the due date for the 2015 Annual Information Statement…
On 11 December 2015 the Board released its consultation paper on the tax transparency code. This paper includes the Board’s preliminary findings and recommendations to Government. It is intended to facilitate additional consultation. Background – As part of the 2015 Budget, on 12 May 2015 the Treasurer wrote to the Board of Taxation to ask it…
The AAT has rejected a tax agent’s appeal and upheld the Tax Practitioners’ Board decision not to re-register her as a tax agent as she did not meet the “fit and proper person” test. The Tribunal said the agent was a trustee of a self-managed super fund (SMSF) and the ATO had in October 2012 determined she…
Australian financial services (AFS) licensees and representatives who provide tax (financial) advice services for a fee or other reward must now be registered with the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) [as of 1 Jan 2016]. They can no longer rely on a disclaimer to provide these services while unregistered. The TPB Chair, Ian Taylor, advises that…
The Commissioner of ACT Revenue has been successful before the Appeals Tribunal of the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal in setting aside a previous decision to reduce penalty tax imposed on a taxpayer for a payroll tax default. At first instance, the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal was satisfied that, due to the ill health…
Two corporate taxpayers have been unsuccessful before the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal in a payroll tax grouping matter. The Commissioner had grouped the taxpayers with another corporate entity for payroll tax purposes. The dispute concerned revised assessments for the financial years 2009 to 2013 for payroll tax, penalty tax and interest, which amounted to…
Two taxpayers have been unsuccessful before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal in seeking exemptions under either sections 34 (property vested in apparent purchaser) or 36 (property passing to beneficiaries of a fixed trust) of the Duties Act 2000 (Vic) in relation to a property purchased in the names of the parents of the first…