The Federal Court had ordered that a letter of request be issued to the judicial authorities of Israel to take or cause to be taken the evidence of the Chairwoman of the Board of Mercantile Discount Bank (MDB), a third party bank located in Israel, and for the production of documents in aid of, or…
On 26.4.16, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released taxation revenue figures for 2014-15. It says total taxation revenue collected in Australia increased by $10bn (2.3%) from $435.9bn in 2013-14 to $445.9bn in 2014-15. This was driven by a $10.1bn (4.1%) increase in taxes on income and a $4.3bn (10.5%) increase in taxes on property. Over…
On 26.4.16, the ATO gave notice that it is sending letters to the trustees of SMSF’s which had not lodged annual returns and where the ATO held on information about whether they held any assets. It goes on to say the following. If your clients receive a letter, advise them that we will cancel their…
On 26.4.2016, the ATO issues 4 Taxpayer Alerts dealing with concerns it has about emerging profit-shifting arrangements that may lead to tax avoidance. Deputy Commissioner, Public Groups, Jeremy Hirschhorn said “Taxpayer alerts … are an effective tool to stop the marketing, sale and implementation of schemes, support voluntary disclosures from those who may be involved in these schemes,…
On 22.4.16, the Senate Economics References Committee tabled Part 2 of it’s tax avoidance report – Part 2: Gaming the System. The following extracts give insight into the thrust of the report. [APH website] [LTN 76, 22/4/16] The first extract gives the background to Part 2 of its report. Chapter 1 – Background First report on…
The Assistant Treasurer, Kelly O’Dwyer, told The Guardian about various Government initiatives, including a proposal to create a ‘public register of the beneficial owners of shell companies”. [LTN 76, 22/4/16] Guardian report The Turnbull government will create a public register revealing the identities of the beneficial owners of shell companies in an effort to quell mounting public…
The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) has released for comment a draft Commissioner’s Interpretation Statement on the meaning and scope of the charity subtype of “public benevolent institutions” for ACNC purposes. The following is an extract of some of the key portions of the Statement. [ACNC – Public consultation and Comment; Download Statement] [LTN 75, 21/4/16] Extract…
On 20.4.16, the ATO issued Class Ruling CR 2016/23 (off-market share buy-back: Caltex Australia Ltd) which applies to ordinary shareholders of Caltex Australia Ltd who disposed of their ordinary shares under the off-market share buyback announced on 23 February 2016. It applies form 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016. [LTN 74, 20/4/16]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations (UN) and the World Bank Group (WBG) announced today the details of their joint effort to intensify their cooperation on tax issues: the Platform for Collaboration on Tax. The Platform will not only formalize regular discussions between the four…
On 16 April 2016, the Inspector General of Taxation (IGT) lodged a further Submission to to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Tax and Revenue’s (Committee) Inquiry into the External Scrutiny of the Australian Taxation Office (Inquiry). This was to supplement its initial Submission made in March 2016 after having the benefit of seeing the other submissions…