The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) on Fri 14.9.2012, issued for comment the following Draft Information Sheets: (Code of Professional Conduct – reasonable care to ascertain a client’s state of affairs) – covers Code Item 9. Under Code Item 9, registered tax and BAS agents must take TPB(I) D15/2012reasonable care in ascertaining a client’s state of…
The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) has issued Information Sheet TPB(I) 14/2012 (Tertiary qualifications in a discipline other than accountancy for tax agents). Item 202 in Sch 2 of the Tax Agent Services Regulations 2009 (TASR) contains 1 of the 6 options for meeting the qualifications and experience requirements for registration, including renewal of registration, as…
The ATO will be closely scrutinised when the Commissioner of Taxation fronts Federal Parliament’s Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit (JCPAA) on Fri 14.9.2012, at Parliament House in Canberra. The ATO will be joined by the Auditor General, the Inspector-General of Taxation, the Commonwealth Ombudsman, and representatives from small business and tax professional organisations.…
The ATO has advised that as of Fri 7.9.2012, it will publish all findings made by its external scrutineers and the outcomes and improvements from implementing the suggested recommendations. The ATO said its decision to publish the material will allow people to track the progress of the recommendations. To start this process, it said it…
The Board of Taxation is inviting written submissions to assist in developing its advice to the Treasurer on certain aspects of the tax cost setting process, as well as certain other aspects of the consolidation regime. The scope of this review covers: the treatment of certain types of liabilities held by an entity joining a…
The Assistant Treasurer on Fri 7.9.2012, delivered a speech on the Government’s tax reform agenda and the role of consultation. The Assistant Treasurer also released 2 Board of Taxation reports on the Post-Implementation Review of the Tax Design Review Panel’s Recommendations and the Review of the Tax Issues Entry System. Key points made by the…
Following a motion presented by Senator Cormann, and agreed to by the Senate on 17 September 2012, the Government was ordered to produce and table documents in the Senate concerning the Minerals Resource Rent Tax (MRRT). The information sought related to the costing of the MRRT over the forward estimates and specifically sought the cost…
The ATO is warning people to be cautious about arrangements promoting the generation of deductions from the purchase of offshore “emission units” that do not exist at the time of the arrangement. In issuing Taxpayer Alert TA 2012/6 on Tue 25.9.2012, the ATO says it believes many of these arrangements may not be legitimate, and…
A package of 7 Bills was introduced in the House of Reps on Wed 19.9.2012. The Bills make amendments that cover: arrangements to facilitate the linking of Australia’s carbon pricing mechanism to other countries’ emissions trading schemes, including the EU ETS; the removal of the price floor and repeal of the Clean Energy (International Unit…
The Australian Greens have announced they propose to introduce a Bill in the Senate on Tue 11.9.2012 – the Minerals Resource Rent Tax (Protecting Revenue) Amendment Bill 2012 – which aims to plug what they claim is a “mining tax loophole” by locking in the state royalty rebate for the mining tax at the level…