On 21.9.16, BHP Billiton released its Economic contribution and payments to governments Report which shows the company’s total economic contribution globally in the 2016 financial year was US$26.7 billion. This includes US$3.7 billion globally in taxes, royalties and other payments to governments. Releasing the report, BHP Billiton Chief Financial Officer Peter Beaven said the company’s…
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 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…
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…
The ATO has released an updated and rewritten version of its lengthy Practice Statement Law Administration PS LA 2005/24 on the Application of General Anti-Avoidance Rules. The whole document was re-written following considerable legislative change since the previous re-write, which as in 2009. The Practice Statement should be used where the ATO proposes to: make…
The Duties Amendment (Motor Vehicle Industry Red Tape Reduction) Bill 2016 (Tas) passed all stages without amendment on 15.9.2016 and awaits Royal Assent. The Bill will amend the Duties Act 2001 (Tas) to broaden the permitted use of demonstrator vehicles under the current duty exemption for new motor vehicles registered by licensed motor vehicle traders…
The Budget Savings (Omnibus) Bill 2016 received Royal Assent as Act No 55 of 2016 on 16.9.16, having passed the Senate without amendment the night before. The Bill implements measures announced in the 2016-17 Federal Budget and earlier Budget updates eg: introduces Single Touch Payroll (STP) reporting for substantial employers to automatically provide payroll and…
The Taxation Administration Act 1997 (TAA) allows a taxpayer who is dissatisfied with an assessment (other than a compromise assessment) or certain decisions of the Commissioner of State Revenue (the Commissioner) to lodge a written objection with the Commissioner (see section 96 of the TAA). This includes an objection to an assessment of a tax liability…
On 15.9.16 the ATO issued a further Tax Alert: TA 2016/11 about arrangements is concerned will be ineffective to defeat the Multinational Anti-Avoidance Law (MAAL) in s177DA of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (ITAA36). This is the third TA on MAAL avoidance this year, after TA 2016/2 about foreign and Australian entities swapping roles…
We are reviewing cross-border round robin type arrangements that involve funding of an overseas entity or operations by an Australian entity, where the funds are subsequently provided back to the Australian entity or its Australian associate in a manner, which purportedly generates Australian tax deductions while not generating corresponding Australian assessable income. One example of…