PCG 2016/5 – Safe harbours for related party LRBA’s for real property and listed shares to avoid audits of SMSF’s for NALI

On 28.9.16, the Commissioner issued Practical Compliance Guideline 2016/5 offering practical guidance as to the terms on which related party ‘limited recourse borrowing arrangements’ (LBRA’s) without attracting audits for ‘non-arm’s length income’ assessments under s295-550(1) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA97). It provides 2 ‘safe harbours’ – one for LBRA’s used to buy…

TD 2016/16 – A related party ‘LBRA’ will produce NALI when the asset could not have been funded on arm’s length terms

A superannuation fund generally cannot borrow, but s67A of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SIS Act) permits superannuation funds to take ‘limited recourse borrowing arrangement’ (LRBA) to buy an ‘acquirable asset’ (and the asset is held by a separate trustee so the lender can only have recourse to that asset). Self Managed Superannuation Funds…

Re G J Brown & Co Pty Ltd and Tax Practitioners Board – Tax agent registration refused, as not “fit and proper person”

Two applicants (a company and its sole director) have been unsuccessful before the AAT in a matter concerning the Tax Practitioners Board’s decisions refusing essentially their tax agent registration. In October 2015, the Board rejected the application of the company applicant for renewal of its tax agent registration on the basis that the Board was not satisfied…

Switzerland ratifies the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters: automatic exchange of foreign account info and CbC reports

Switzerland, represented by Ambassador Ulrich Lehner , today deposited its instrument of ratification for the multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (“the Convention”) in the presence of OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría. This ratification re-affirms Switzerland’s commitment to greater tax transparency and marks another important step in implementing the Standard for Automatic Exchange…

EU decision to make Apple refund 13b euro to Ireland was based on illegal state aid in the past, not BEPS transfer pricing rules in the future where profit should be in US: OECD BEPS chief, Saint Amans

The OECD chief of BEPS reform: Pascal Saint-Amans said that the EU decision to order Apple to pay back 13b euro to Ireland was not a precedent for the future as it was based on state aid rather than tax law in the past. European Union antitrust regulators last month ordered Apple to pay up…