A taxpayer, whose assessment for the year ended 30 June 2007 was amended in 2014 to include unexplained deposits of $3.5m following an audit, has been unsuccessful in his action against the Commissioner for misfeasance in public office, abuse of process and breach of duty of good faith (ie “conscious maladministration”). Instead, the NSW Supreme Court found that the…
A taxpayer’s claim for work-related travel deductions in excess of the amounts he incurred has been unsuccessful. The taxpayer was an employee truck driver who was required to be away from home on most working days. He claimed work-related travel expense deductions for the 2011 and 2012 income years totalling just over $42,000. The deductions…
On Wed 29.3.2017, the ATO released the following Class Rulings: Class Ruling CR 2017/19– Fringe benefits tax: Clients of Toyota Fleet Management, whose employees use the DriverDirect E-logbook for car log book and odometer records. The ATO says that the E-logbook created by DriverDirect is a document that satisfies the definition of log book records…
The Commissioner issued this Determination on Wed 29.3.2017, ruling that the cost of travelling to have a tax return prepared by a “recognised tax adviser” is deductible under s25-5 of the ITAA 1997. However, to the extent that the travel relates to another non-incidental purpose the expenditure must be apportioned. The Determination contains a number…
On Wed 29.3.2017, the ATO released Tax Determination TD 2017/7 which provides that freshwater crayfish can be trading stock and the appropriate methods for valuing them. The TD applies both before and after its date of issue. It was not previously issued as a draft. [LTN 59, 29/3/97]
On Wednesday 29.3.2017, the Commissioner released the annual Taxation Determinations of FBT rates, thresholds and other amounts for the 2017-18 FBT year (ie 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018). TD 2017/2: The FBT record-keeping exemption threshold for 2017-18 is $8,393 (up from $8,286). TD 2017/3: The benchmark interest rate for the 2017-18 FBT year is 5.25% per annum (down from 5.65%). The…
On 29 March 2017, the Inspector-General of Taxation (IGT), Mr Ali Noroozi, announced terms of reference for his review into the administration of the Pay As You Go (PAYG) instalments system with respect to individual taxpayers. [IGT – press release, terms of reference; LTN 59, 29/3/17] Extract from Terms of Reference The ‘Pay As You…
The AAT has affirmed the Commissioner’s decision not to remit 75% penalties of $650,000 imposed on a taxpayer under s284-75(3) and s284-90 of Sch 1 to the TAA for failing to lodge 13 BAS returns between 2007 and 2011 – a period during which it sold 7 out of 10 townhouses it had developed in suburban…
As part of the National Innovation and Science Agenda (NISA), the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, the Hon Kelly O’Dwyer, has released draft legislation which reforms Australia’s insolvency laws and an accompanying draft explanatory statement for public consultation. This was on Tuesday 28.3.17. The draft legislation will amend the Corporations Act 2001 in an…
The Treasury Laws Amendment (Enterprise Tax Plan) Bill 2016 was passed by the House of Reps on Mon 27.3.2017 and the Senate late on Friday 31.3.17 before rising to return for the Budget sittings in May. The passage of this Bill was achieved with the agreement of the Xenophon Team. It will have to return to the…