The Customs Tariff Amendment (Tobacco) Bill 2014 and Excise Tariff Amendment (Tobacco) Bill 2014 were passed by the House of Reps on Tue 4.3.2014, without amendment and now move to the Senate. They propose to increase the rates of excise and excise equivalent customs duty on tobacco, and index the rates of excise and excise…
The CEO of Customs has gazetted a notice to increase the rate of customs duty for various tobacco goods effective from 1 March 2014. The Commissioner of Taxation has also gazetted a notice setting out a substituted rate of excise duty for tobacco goods effective from 1 March 2014. [LTN 41, 3/3/14]
Treasury on Wed 12.3.2014, released for comment draft legislation and draft regulations to implement the 2009-10 Budget proposal to re-state and centralise the special conditions for tax concession entities. In December 2013, the Government had announced that it would proceed with the proposal. The changes propose to: re-state the “in Australia” special conditions for income tax exempt…
The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (Repeal) (No 1) Bill 2014 was introduced in the House of Reps on Wed 19.3.2014. It proposes to repeal the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Act 2012, thereby abolishing the Commission. The Government said that, given the regulators in place before the Commission was established can provide similar regulatory…
The Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2013 was passed by the Senate on Wed 5.3.2014, with Govt and Opposition amendments and now must go back to the House of Reps for consideration of those amendments. The amendments concern, among other things, the commencement of measures in the Bill regarding FTB and eligibility rules,…
The Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2014 Measures No 1) Bill 2014 was passed by the House of Reps on Tue 4.3.2014, without amendment and now moves to the Senate. The Bill proposes to: phase out the net medical expenses tax offset; introduce civil and criminal penalties for promoters of schemes re illegal early release…
M o r g a n’ s T a x M o n t h – March 2014 Developments – This is a collection of developments in Australian tax law and practice that occurred in March 2014 and which aims at being of relevance to tax lawyers.* F John Morgan A member of the Victorian…
This year’s Federal Budget has the opportunity to set Australia up for sustained economic growth if it puts the fiscal strategy back on track, Business Council of Australia (BCA) Chief Executive Jennifer Westacott said. She said this Budget had to break the trend, particularly evident over recent years, where spending had grown faster than the economy.…
The Financial Planning Association (FPA) has released its submission to Treasury on the Government’s proposed changes to the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) regime. Although the FPA was broadly supportive of the proposed changes, it identified some areas for improvement. FPA General Manager of Policy and Conduct, Danti De Gori, said the “overall aim of…
Rhetoric and unnecessary scare mongering are clouding the facts about proposed amendments to the best interest duty component of the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) legislation, says the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA). FPA CEO Mark Rantall said Australian consumers have nothing to fear from proposed changes to remove sub-s 961(B)(2)(g) of the Corporations…