Monthly Archives: February 2017

*Foreign resident CGT Principal Asset Test: draft legislation released to match mining information with the mine and stop groups creating duplicate assets [23]

On 14 May 2013, the previous Government announced amendments to the foreign resident CGT Principal Asset Test, which would: value mining, quarrying or prospecting information and goodwill together with the mining rights to which they relate; and remove the ability to use transactions between members of the same consolidated group to create and duplicate assets. On 4 November 2013,…

*Thin cap rules to be tightened – draft legislation released [22]

On 6 November 2013, the Government announced that it would proceed with reforms to tighten the thin capitalisation rules to prevent erosion of the tax base.  These reforms are intended to ensure that multinationals do not allocate a disproportionate amount of debt to their Australian operations. Draft legislation has now been released which proposes to: tighten the…

*Miscellaneous changes to tax laws – draft legislation released [21]

The Government has released draft legislation covering proposed miscellaneous amendments to taxation and superannuation laws. The amendments seek to ensure the law operates as intended by correcting technical or drafting defects, removing anomalies and addressing unintended outcomes. They include: repeal of Assessed Net Amount Concept in the GST Act, amendments re the time at which…

*Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2014 Measures No 3) Bill 2014 – Mining rights and information – restrictions on deductibility [20]

The Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2014 Measures No 3) Bill 2014 was introduced into the House of Reps on Thur 29.5.2014. It proposes to amend the capital allowances provisions in the ITAA 1997 [by amending s40-80(1) and adding s40-80(1AA)-(1AC)] to limit immediate deductibility of expenditure on mining rights and mining information [and varying the…

*Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2014 Measures No 2) Bill 2014 – Dividend washing; un-enacted measures; Medicare Levy low-income threshold [19]

The Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2014 Measures No 2) Bill 2014 was introduced into the House of Reps on Thur 29.5.2014. It contains the following amendments: Dividend washing – the Bill will amend the ITAA 1997 to introduce an integrity rule [new s207-157 of the ITAA 1997] to limit the ability of taxpayers to…

*Tax Laws Amendment (2014 Measures No 1) Bill 2014: GST excess refunds; farm management deposits [18]

The Tax Laws Amendment (2014 Measures No 1) Bill 2014 has passed the House of Reps without amendment and now moves to the Senate. The Bill proposes to: amend the GST Act and the TAA to ensure that overpaid GST is refundable only in certain circumstances. [This involves introducing a new Division 142 into the…

*Temporary Budget Repair Levy: Bills introduced [17]

Following the 2014 Federal Budget handed down on Tue 13.5.2014, the Tax Laws Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014 along with 14 additional supporting Bills were introduced into the House of Representatives. The Bills propose to amend the ITAA 1997, the Income Tax Rates Act 1986, the Income Tax (Transitional Provisions) Act 1997 and…

*Inspector-General of Taxation to hear tax complaints [16]

The Government announced that it will provide funding over 4 years from 2014-15 to transfer the function for taxation complaints case handling from the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman to the Inspector-General of Taxation. The Government considers this will enhance the systematic review role of the Inspector-General of Taxation and provide taxpayers with more specialised…

Hiring Australians 50 years or over – new subsidy for employers [15]

The Government has announced that employers can receive up to $10,000 in Government assistance if they hire a job-seeker aged 50 or older under its new “Restart” program. The program will replace the Seniors Employment Incentive Payment. Under the program, eligible employers will receive $3,000 if they hire a full-time mature-age job seeker who was…

Index Pension and Pension Equivalent Payments by the CPI instead of Total Average Weekly Earnings [14]

The Government will index pension and equivalent payments and Parenting Payment Single by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Savings of $449m over 5 years are expected. This measure will commence on 1 July 2014 for Parenting Payment Single recipients and from 1 September 2017 for Bereavement Allowance and pension payments such as: Age Pension; Disability Support Pension; Carer Payment…