Exploration Development Incentive’s first year in operation: 84 Applications; $70m in greenfields expenditure & $21m in credits – Assistant Treasurer’s press release

Tax Month 2016-02

The Assistant Treasurer: The Hon Kelly O’Dwyer, together with the Minister for Resources (and the former Asst Treasurer): The Hon. Josh Frydenberg, issued a joint press release that said the following. The recently released results for the first year of the Government’s $100 million Exploration Development Incentive (EDI) highlight its broad use in new exploration.…

PAYG withholding varied to ‘nil’ for various payments to religious practitioners – legislative instrument gazetted

Uncategorized

A Legislative Instrument was gazetted on 12 February 2016 that varies to nil the amount of withholding required by a payer under the PAYG withholding system for allowance payments, payments made for locum services, and payments made by non-religious entities to religious practitioners, in a certain class of cases. It also removes the requirement to issue payment summaries and…

Labor Tax policy includes: halving CGT discount (to 25%) & limiting negative gearing on post 1 July 2017 acquisitions to new housing

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In an announcement on Saturday, 13 February 2016, Labor Leader Bill Shorten released Labor’s “Funding Health & Education – and Balancing the Budget” policy. The policy proposes to: Limit negative gearing to new housing from 1 July 2017. All current investments – and any made before this date – will not be affected by this change and will be fully grandfathered.…

Tax incentive for ‘early stage investors’ – 20% non-refundable off-set up to $200,000pa & CGT exemption after 3 year then uplift after 10 years

Tax Articles

Treasury put up, on its website, the following explanation of the tax incentive for ‘early stage investors’ announced in the Innovation Statement on 7 December 2015. Tax incentive for ‘early stage investors’ – what is it? The Government has announced that it will introduce a tax incentive for startup investors which will provide concessional tax…

‘Early stage investors’ tax incentives (announced in the ‘Innovation’ statement) – Treasury releases consultation paper

Tax Month 2016-02

On 15 February 2016, Treasury released a consultation paper on the tax incentives for ‘early stage investors’, with the following preamble. “On 7 December 2015, the Government announced the National Innovation and Science Agenda (NISA), including new tax incentives for early stage investors. The tax incentives will provide concessional tax treatment for investors through a non-refundable…

Vic land tax: Colosseum Pty Ltd v Comr of State Revenue – 107 acres of land in greater Melbourne not ‘primarily’ used primary production because ‘landfill’ outweighed cropping and grazing business

Tax Month 2016-02

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has found that the scale of a taxpayer’s cropping and grazing activities was not sufficient for the taxpayer to qualify for the primary production land tax exemption. The taxpayer was the trustee of a trust which held 107 hectares of land in greater Melbourne. Part of the land was…

Re Sandbach and FCT – taxpayer appeals decision that the taxpayer could not use “threatened” losses from proceedings that had ended over a decade ago to reduce his taxable income to nil

Tax Month 2016-02

The taxpayer has appealed to the Federal Court against the decision in Re Sandbach and FCT [2015] AATA 1024. In the case, the AAT affirmed default assessments (including penalties) issued by the Commissioner, finding that the taxpayer could not use “threatened” losses from proceedings that had ended over a decade ago to reduce his taxable income to nil.…

R&D tax incentive review as part of the ‘Innovation statement’ – issues paper released

Tax Month 2016-02

Background – The National Innovation and Science Agenda (the Agenda) was launched on 7 December 2015. The Agenda aims to create a more innovative and entrepreneurial Australia. In launching the Agenda the Australian Government committed to undertaking a review of the Research and Development (R&D) Tax Incentive programme. Objective – The Review is identifying opportunities…

Latest OECD BEPS transfer pricing recommendations – Treasury released a consultation paper on adopting these recommendations in Australia

Tax Month 2016-02

On Thursday 11/2/16, Treasury released a consultation paper on whether Australia should adopt the OECD’s latest transfer pricing recommendations (arrived at as part of its BEPS work). The Treasury release, of the consultation paper, stated the following. Transfer pricing rules are designed to make sure Australia receives an appropriate share of tax from multinational firms.…