In an address to the Sydney Institute on Wed 2.4.2014, Secretary to the Treasury Dr Martin Parkinson spoke about Australia’s current fiscal position and what might be done to address it. He noted that Australia has relatively high reliance on direct taxes as a proportion of revenue raised when compared to other OECD countries. Dr…
At its meeting on Tue 1.4.2014, the Reserve Bank Board decided to leave the cash rate unchanged at 2.5%. In the Board’s judgment, monetary policy is “appropriately configured to foster sustainable growth in demand and inflation outcomes consistent with the target”. On present indications, the most prudent course is likely to be a period of…
Three related taxpayers have been unsuccessful before the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal in seeking the primary production land tax exemption in relation to 27 properties pursuant to s 10AA of the Land Tax Management Act1956 (NSW). The taxpayers sought the land tax exemption for the properties for the 2006 to 2010 land tax years (for…
In a decision handed down on Mon 28.4.2014, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal affirmed a decision of the NSW Chief Commissioner of State Revenue to group a taxpayer with 6 other entities for payroll tax purposes. Following an audit, the Commissioner grouped the taxpayer with 6 other entities for payroll tax purposes and issued…
The Appeal Panel of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal has affirmed the Commissioner’s decision to assess to duty a Trust Deed on the basis that the Deed comprised a “declaration of trust” over a property, but decided the premium interest component should be remitted. The taxpayer was assessed to ad valorem duty on a…
The ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal has held that penalty tax imposed on a taxpayer for land tax default in relation to a rental property over a 10-year period should be reduced as it found there were varying circumstances of the taxpayer that were not adequately considered by the Commissioner. The taxpayer was the owner…
The ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal has made a decision concerning the Commissioner of ACT Revenue’s decision to group 18 entities for payroll purposes. The Tribunal concluded the entities constituted a group for payroll tax purposes for the period 1 July 2000 to 30 June 2005, save for 2 entities, which it held should be excluded from the group…
The State Taxation Legislation Amendment Bill 2014 (Vic) has passed the Victorian Legislative Assembly with 4 Government amendments. The Bill is now before the Legislative Council. It proposes to implement a number of measures announced in the Victorian State Budget Update for 2013-14 (handed down in December 2013), including: measures in relation to the congestion levy and…
The Duties (Commercial Leases) Amendment Bill 2014 (ACT) has passed all stages without amendment and awaits notification. It amends the Duties Act 1999 (ACT) to introduce a premium-based method for assessing duty on commercial leases, being leases that have only a commercial purpose, or more than one purpose including commercial purposes. Examples of commercial activities…
The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) has released presentation videos for tax agents and BAS agents via the TPB YouTube channel. The Board said in the last 10 months it had hosted a number of information sessions around Australia with some 2,000 tax and BAS agents attending those sessions. So that all agents could have access…