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…
Cross-border business-to-business (B2B) GST reforms commenced on Saturday, 1 October 2016. They were introduced in the Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2016 Measures No 1) Act 2016, which received Royal Assent on 5 May 2016. Under the changes, the GST Act has been amended to better target the way Australia’s GST rules apply to cross-border supplies that involve non-resident…
Introduction CbC reporting is required by Div 815-E of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 and the Commissioner can exempt an entity from this reporting or parts thereof under s815-365 of this Act. This guidance outlines the general principles and processes we follow when considering an exemption request from a particular entity with respect to…
On 27.9.16, the Treasurer announced the following resolutions of Cabinet regarding what has been called the ‘backpacker tax’ review. From 1 January 2017 the tax rate for working holiday makers (entering under the relevant visa categories) will be 19% from the first dollar up to $37,000 (the upper income limit for the current 19% marginal…
On 27.9.16, the Government released 2 Draft Bills and a draft regulation and explanatory material comprising the 2nd tranche of superannuation reforms that were first announced in the 2016-17 Budget: Exposure Draft: Treasury Laws Amendment (Fair and Sustainable Superannuation) Bill 2016 Exposure Draft: Superannuation (Excess Transfer Balance Tax) Imposition Bill 2016 Exposure Draft: Treasury Laws…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…