The full text of Australia’s free trade agreement with Korea (KAFTA), our 3rd-largest export market and 4th-largest trading partner, has on Mon 17.2.2014 been released, the Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb announced. The text is on the Dept of Foreign Affairs and Trade website. Mr Robb said KAFTA will bring immediate gains for…
The Social Security Legislation Amendment (Increased Employment Participation) Bill 2014 was introduced in the House of Reps on Thur 27.2.2014. It proposes to amend the Social Security Act 1991, the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999, and the ITAA 1997 to enable the implementation of the Government’s Job Commitment Bonus and the Relocation Assistance to Take Up…
The transcript of the hearing on 21 February 2014 of the Senate Economics Legislation Committee’s inquiry into the Tax Laws Amendment (Research and Development) Bill 2013 has been released. The inquiry was referred to the Committee by the Senate on 5 December 2013 for report by 17 March 2014. The Committee said that, to date, it had received 20 submissions, which…
The Government on Wed 12.2.2014, released for public consultation draft legislation to make amendments to the Farm Management Deposits (FMD) scheme. The draft legislation gives effect to the Government’s decision announced on 6 November 2013 to proceed with the former Government’s proposals to: increase the off-farm income threshold from $65,000 to id=”mce_marker”00,000, allowing primary producers to earn…
The Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2014 Measures No 1) Bill 2014 was introduced in the House of Reps on Wed 26.2.2014. It proposes to: phase out the net medical expenses tax offset with transitional arrangements for those currently claiming the offset, to give people time to adjust. From 1 July 2013, those taxpayers who claimed the…
M o r g a n’ s T a x M o n t h – February 2014 Developments – This is a collection of developments in Australian tax law and practice that occurred in February 2014 and which aims at being of relevance to tax lawyers.* F John Morgan A member of the Victorian…
Action 13 of the OECD’s BEPS Action Plan released on 19 July 2013 calls for a review of the existing transfer pricing documentation rules and the development of a template for country-by-country reporting of income, taxes and economic activity for tax administrations. An initial draft of revised guidance on transfer pricing documentation and country-by-country reporting was released…
Treasury on Thur 30.1.2014, launched the Financial System Inquiry website. The Inquiry is charged with examining how the financial system could be positioned to best meet Australia’s evolving needs and support Australia’s economic growth. The Treasurer had in December 2013 announced the final terms of reference of the Inquiry (see last month’s edition). Interested stakeholders can now…
Treasury on Thur 30.1.2014, released the Tax Expenditures Statement 2013, dated January 2014. The 2013 Tax Expenditures Statement lists 355 tax expenditures (eg tax exemptions, deductions or offsets, concessional tax rates and deferrals of tax liability) provided to taxpayers by the Australian Government and, where possible, the estimated value or order of magnitude of the benefit to…
The Government on Friday 24.1.14 announced that the Australian Valuation Office (AVO) will close and will cease to provide services by 30 June 2014. [The Tax Office manages the business operations of the AVO.] The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer Steven Ciobo said the AVO had become unsustainable and was expected to incur losses of up to…