The Corporations Amendment (Streamlining Future of Financial Advice) Regulation 2014 (FoFA amendment regs) were disallowed by the Senate on Wed 19.11.2014, after Senators Lambie and Muir joined cross-bench Senators to support a motion by Senator Dastyari (ALP) to disallow the Government’s FoFA amendment regs. The vote to disallow the Regulation was agreed to 32 votes…
An Exposure Draft of the Corporations Amendment (Register of Relevant Providers) Regulation 2014 was released on Thur 27.11.2014, which proposes to make a number of amendments to the Corporations Regulations 2001 to: enable ASIC to establish and maintain a public register of financial advisers; and for Australian Financial Service licensees to collect and provide information…
The report of the House of Reps Standing Committee on Economics into Foreign investment in residential real estate was tabled Thur 27.11.2014. The 148-page report made 12 recommendations, including that the Government apply a modest administrative fee to the current screening for all foreign purchases of residential real estate, including purchases by temporary residents. This…
The Victorian State Revenue Office (SRO) has reminded employers of holders of private security individual operator licences that the voluntary disclosure period is nearing its end. In September 2014, the SRO issued Payroll Tax Bulletin PTX1/14 which offers employers a reduced rate of penalty tax if they voluntarily disclose on or before 30 November 2014 that they have classified…
The Qld Office of State Revenue (OSR) has updated harmonised payroll tax Public Ruling PTA028.2 (Employment agency contracts – workers on-hired to government). The Ruling clarifies the correct payroll tax treatment of payments made by an employment agent to a worker on-hired to a government department. The Ruling took effect on 1 July 2014. [FJM Note: This…
A taxpayer has been unsuccessful before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal in a matter concerning the Victorian land rich provisions. The matter concerned an assessment issued to the taxpayer in February 2011 for $5.2m (which comprised $3.8m in duty, $937,775 in penalties, and $488,993 in interest). For the purposes of the proceedings, the taxpayer was acting…
A Full Court of the High Court in Canberra on Tue 4.11.2014 also began hearing the Commissioner of State Revenue’s appeals against the Victorian Court of Appeal decision in Lend Lease Development Pty Ltd & Ors v Comr of State Revenue [2013] VSCA 207. The Court of Appeal had allowed the appeal of the 3…
The NSW Supreme Court has held that payroll tax assessments issued to Newcastle Airport Ltd (NAL) should be revoked. The Chief Commissioner of State Revenue had issued payroll tax assessments to NAL totalling just over $622,000. NAL argued that the wages in respect of which payroll tax was assessed were not taxable wages, but were…
A couple (husband and wife taxpayers) has been unsuccessful before the NSW Court of Appeal in seeking an appeal against an earlier decision which had denied their claim for the primary production land tax exemption under s 10AA of the Land Tax Management Act 1956 (NSW) in respect of a property for the 2007 to 2011…
The Taxation Legislation Amendment Bill (No 2) Bill 2014 (WA) was recently introduced into the WA Legislative Assembly. It proposes to amend the Duties Act 2008 (WA) and the Land Tax Assessment Act 2002 (WA) to modernise the land tax exemption for primary producers following a government review. The amendments propose that the primary production…