The following Bills received Royal Assent on Tue 4.12.2012: Treasury Legislation Amendment (Unclaimed Money and Other Measures) Bill 2012 – Act No 176 of 2012. The Bill makes amendments to various Acts to bring forward the time at which money is recognised under the relevant law as lost or unclaimed [and to increase the threshold…
The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Bill 2012 and Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (Consequential and Transitional) Bill 2012 both received Royal Assent on Mon 3.12.2012, as Act Nos 168 and 169, respectively, of 2012. The Bills were originally introduced into the House of Reps on 23 August 2012 and establish a new regulatory system for the…
M o r g a n’ s T a x M o n t h – December 2012 Developments – This is a collection of developments in Australian tax law and practice that occurred in December 2012 and which aims at being of relevance to tax lawyers.* F John Morgan A member of the Victorian…
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has affirmed the Commissioner’s stamp duty assessments in relation to transfers of real property (referred to as the “reverse transfers”) from 3 family members to a taxpayer (a trustee company of a family trust). The background facts are complicated, but essentially involved a series of events, which occurred following…
The Crimes Legislation Amendment (Organised Crime and Other Measures) Bill 2012 was introduced in the House of Reps on Wed 28.11.2012. Among other things, the Bill amends the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (the ‘POC Act’) to improve the investigation and litigation of unexplained wealth matters and to improve the Commonwealth’s ability to confiscate unexplained…
The Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Bill 2012 was passed by the Senate on Tue 27.11.2012, with 40 Government amendments and now goes back to the House of Reps for consideration of those amendments. The Bill seeks to amend the Privacy Act 1988 to implement the Government’s first stage response to the Australian Law Reform…
The Minister for Financial Services on Wed 28.11.2012, released draft regulations that would replace the accountant’s exemption with a new form of limited licence. Mr Shorten said the proposed new licence would mean that licensed practitioners would “advise on a wider range of alternatives, rather that limiting their advice to the establishment of a self-managed…
PricewaterhouseCoopers, the World Bank and the IFC, recently released a study which compares tax regimes across 185 economies using a case study company and ranks them according to the relative ease of paying taxes. Overall, the study ranked Australia at 48th place (the United Arab Emirates ranked 1st). In relation to Australia, the study reported…
The AAT has refused to extend the stay of an ASIC decision to permanently ban a financial services adviser from providing financial services. The AAT said the adviser is employed by an accounting firm, and on 30 October 2012, ASIC made a banning order permanently prohibiting the adviser from providing financial services. That decision was…
The Victorian Government on Wed 21.11.2012, announced that it will double the threshold of stamp duty concessions for “young farmers” to $600,000, with a phase-out at $750,000, following a review of the concessions. Victorian Treasurer Kim Wells said the changes, to be legislated next year, would bring the scheme into line with stamp duty concessions…