The Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2013 was passed by the Senate on Wed 5.3.2014, with Govt and Opposition amendments and now must go back to the House of Reps for consideration of those amendments. The amendments concern, among other things, the commencement of measures in the Bill regarding FTB and eligibility rules,…
The Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2014 Measures No 1) Bill 2014 was passed by the House of Reps on Tue 4.3.2014, without amendment and now moves to the Senate. The Bill proposes to: phase out the net medical expenses tax offset; introduce civil and criminal penalties for promoters of schemes re illegal early release…
M o r g a n’ s T a x M o n t h – March 2014 Developments – This is a collection of developments in Australian tax law and practice that occurred in March 2014 and which aims at being of relevance to tax lawyers.* F John Morgan A member of the Victorian…
This year’s Federal Budget has the opportunity to set Australia up for sustained economic growth if it puts the fiscal strategy back on track, Business Council of Australia (BCA) Chief Executive Jennifer Westacott said. She said this Budget had to break the trend, particularly evident over recent years, where spending had grown faster than the economy.…
The Financial Planning Association (FPA) has released its submission to Treasury on the Government’s proposed changes to the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) regime. Although the FPA was broadly supportive of the proposed changes, it identified some areas for improvement. FPA General Manager of Policy and Conduct, Danti De Gori, said the “overall aim of…
Rhetoric and unnecessary scare mongering are clouding the facts about proposed amendments to the best interest duty component of the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) legislation, says the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA). FPA CEO Mark Rantall said Australian consumers have nothing to fear from proposed changes to remove sub-s 961(B)(2)(g) of the Corporations…
The Financial Services Council (FSC) has called on the Federal Government to consider whether the income and asset tests for the Age Pension are too generous and whether the long-term cost of the pension is sustainable. It is 2014-15 Federal Budget submission, the FSC says it is concerned that the stability of the retirement system…
At its meeting on Tue 4.2.2014, the Reserve Bank Board decided to leave the cash rate unchanged at 2.5%. Bank Governor Glenn Stevens said the Board judged that the setting of monetary policy remained accommodative. In the Board’s judgement, monetary policy is appropriately configured to foster sustainable growth in demand and inflation outcomes consistent with…
The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal has affirmed a land tax reassessment that had been issued to a taxpayer for the 2013 land tax year. The matter concerned a second reassessment of land tax for the 2013 land tax year, which had been issued to the taxpayer (a trustee of a family trust and conceded…
The NSW Court of Appeal has affirmed the Commissioner’s decision denying a taxpayer the principal place of residence (PPR) land tax exemption for the 2004 to 2009 land tax years (inclusive). The taxpayer became the owner of the subject property in 2002. Located on the property was a 3-bedroom house and a free-standing corrugated iron…