Governments endorse new OECD Guidelines on applying VAT across borders [46]

The governments of 86 countries have taken a key step towards preventing VAT/GST from weighing on trade while also safeguarding state revenues by endorsing the first internationally agreed framework for applying national VAT/GST rules to cross-border transactions. More than 250 high-level representatives of around 100 countries, jurisdictions and international organisations, attending the second meeting of…

*PS LA 2005/2 (GA) on when margin scheme can be selected after the supply – amended to vary references [45]

The ATO has amended the following Practice Statements PS LA 2005/2 (GA) was amended on 14 April 2014 to remove reference to a number of fact sheets and replace with GSTR 2006/7. The Practice Statement explains when the Commissioner may accept that an entity, which did not choose to apply the margin scheme to work out the GST on…

*re Living Choice Australian Limited and FCT – Retirement village developer allowed partial ITC claims – 13% creditable purpose [42]

The AAT has held that a retirement village developer’s input tax credit (ITC) entitlements for certain acquisitions for the relevant periods was 13%, but remitted to the Commissioner consideration of its ITC entitlement of other acquisitions. The taxpayer company is a member of a GST registered group comprised of 6 members that operate retirement villages.…

CPI: March quarter 2014 indexation factor for FBT purposes – running at 2.9% to the year ended 31 March 2014 [41]

The CPI indexation factor, which is used for FBT purposes concerning remote area benefits (under ss 60 and 60AA of the FBTAA), for the March quarter 2014 increased 0.6 from the December 2013 quarter to 105.4. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said inflation was running at 2.9% through the year to 31 March 2014 (up from 2.7% through the year…

*ATO’s Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative (OVDI) – Project ‘DO IT’ (Disclose Offshore Income Today) – gets early results [40]

In a speech to an ATAX conference on Mon 14.4.2014, the Commissioner said the early results from the ATO’s Project DO IT: Disclose offshore income today are promising and show there have so far been 16 disclosures and 33 expressions of interest from others who intend to make a disclosure. Mr Jordan said the ATO is…