The Tax Laws Amendment (2014 Measures No 1) Bill 2014 was introduced into the House of Reps on Thur 27.3.2014. It contains the following amendments: GST excess refunds – the Bill proposes to amend the GST Act and the TAA to ensure that overpaid GST is refundable only in certain circumstances. The amendments would allow…
The House of Reps Standing Committee on Tax and Revenue on Thur 27.3.2014, tabled its report on the inquiry into the ATO Annual Report 2012-13. The Committee’s report is based on a public hearing held on 28 February 2014 at Parliament House, Canberra. One of the key themes at the hearing was the move to simplifying and…
Annual registration of R&D activities with AusIndustry is a prerequisite for companies claiming the R&D Tax Incentive. The deadline for lodging an application for registration is 10 months after the end of a company’s income year. This means that companies with a standard year of income of 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2013 who wish to apply for…
The ATO has warned tax agents that criminals are targeting tax practitioners to steal details of their business and individual clients. The ATO says these thieves have used this stolen information to create false payment summaries, lodge fraudulent returns and obtain fraudulent GST refunds. Consequently, this can result in financial loss for tax agents and…
The ATO is inviting small business owners to apply to join its new small business consultation panel to help boost the agency’s small business expertise. Small business operators interested in applying must have an annual turnover of less than $2m and have at least 2 years experience running a business. However, taxation, consulting or accounting…
The Tax Office has advised that the General Interest Charge (GIC) and Shortfall Interest Charge (SIC) rates for the 4th quarter of the 2013-14 financial year (ie 1 April 2014 to 30 June 2014) are as follows: GIC annual rate is 9.63%; GIC daily compounding rate is 0.02638356%; SIC annual rate is 5.63%; and SIC daily compounding rate is…
The ATO on Thur 13.3.2014 released an updated Practice Statement Law Administration PS LA 2008/5 – Private advice, guidance and objections – requests for further information, intended use of third party information and notification of the use of assumptions. The ATO says the update is a substantial revision to: expand concepts to oral rulings, administratively…
The ATO on Wed 5.3.2014, issued ATO ID 2014/10 (Entitlements to franking credits in an employee remuneration arrangement: Commissioner’s discretion). The ID deals with the following: Is the conclusion that a beneficiary of a unit trust cannot satisfy the qualification period in the former s 160APHO of the ITAA 1936 a relevant matter for the Commissioner…
The ATO on Wed 19.3.2014, released the following Class Rulings: CR 2014/28: GDI Property Group – creating a new stapled security. It applies from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014. Broadly, the Ruling states that Australian resident unitholders are able to choose scrip-for-scrip rollover on the disposal and replacement of their units. CR 2014/29: Government funded payments made…
The ATO on Wed 12.3.2014, issued Product Ruling PR 2014/4 (Soleir Solar Investment Project 2015). It applies from Wed 12.3.2014 to entities that enter into the scheme from 28 April 2014 until 31 October 2014. Broadly, the Ruling sets out the assessable income, allowable deductions as well as small business concessions available to entities that participate in the scheme.…