Daily Archives: October 2, 2016

Benjamin v FCT – Court confirms AAT’s decision to refuse extension of time to challenge objection decisions – 7 years out of time: ‘rested on his rights’

On 23.9.2016, the Federal Court dismissed a taxpayer’s appeal from the decision in Re Benjamin v FCT [2015] AATA 923 in which the AAT refused to allow an extension of time for the taxpayer to lodge an application for review of the Commissioner’s decision to disallow his objection to assessments for the income years ended 30 June 2000 to 2005 (which involved a liability…

Bahamas leaks – ICIJ release 1.3m leaked documents from their corporate registry adding further insight into the leaked ‘Panama Papers’

A cache of 1.3m leaked documents provides names of politicians and others linked to more than 175,000 Bahamian companies registered between 1990 and 2016. This cache of documents comes from the nation’s corporate registry. On 21.9.16, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), Süddeutsche Zeitung and other media partners are making this information available to…

Tasmania: Duties Amendment (Landholder and Corporate Reconstruction and Consolidation) Bill passes lower house – introducing landholder duty and legislated reconstruction relief

The Duties Amendment (Landholder and Corporate Reconstruction and Consolidation) Bill 2016 has passed the Tasmanian House of Assembly without amendment and will now move to the Legislative Council. It proposes to amend Chapter 3 of the Duties Act 2001 (Tas), which deals with the duty liability for indirect transfers of land, by changing the assessment…

Re Silver Mines Limited v Minister for IRD – no extension of time for R&D applications – death of director not unexpected and failure of tax agent to advise could be ‘exceptional circumstances’ but delay was applicant’s

The AAT has affirmed the decision of the Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development not to exercise the discretion under the Industry Research and Development Act 1986 to grant the taxpayer an extension of time to register for R&D tax concessions for an engineering “conceptual process study” in relation to its silver mining  activities. The applicant…

Tech Mahindra Limited v FCT – Indian company with Australian PE liable for tax on income for services performed outside Australia as a ‘know-how’ royalty (despite the twists and turns in the Australia-India DTA)

On 22.9.2016, the Full Federal Court has dismissed a taxpayer’s appeal, effectively upholding the judgment of Perry J at first instance (in Tech Mahindra Limited v FCT [2015] FCA 1082). At first instance, Perry J, held that a company resident in India and registered in Australia, and which carried out IT services for Australian clients both…

Caratti v Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police (No 2) – Validity of search warrants upheld re tax investigation of alleged $15m fraud

A taxpayer has been unsuccessful before the Federal Court in seeking to challenge the validity of search warrants issued in respect of premises related to the taxpayer and associated companies under a joint investigation into “suspected non-declaration of income, the deception of the ATO in order to refrain or limit the taxation paid by the…

Bitcoin is money – US judge says bitcoin was ‘funds’ for the purposes of a US prosecution for unlicensed money transmitting business

Bitcoin qualifies as money, a US Federal District Court Judge ruled on 19 September, in a decision linked to a criminal case over hacking attacks against JPMorgan Chase & Co and other companies. Reuters said US District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan rejected a bid by Anthony Murgio to dismiss 2 charges related to his alleged operation of…

Over 577,000 SMSFs as at June quarter 2016 – 1m members and $621b in assets

The ATO has released the SMSF June 2016 quarterly statistical report. It provides high level statistics on the population of SMSFs and members, estimates of total assets and of various asset classes held by SMSFs, as well as fund and member demographics. Highlights from the June 2016 quarter include: the total number of SMSFs is just over 577,000; total…