As a part of Project Wickenby, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) says it charged a second man with conspiring to dishonestly cause a loss to the ATO and conspiring to deal in the proceeds of crime to the value of $63m as a part of an ongoing investigation. The AFP says the arrest follows its…
The ATO has released Your case matters 2012 which features key data and analysis regarding tax and superannuation litigation from 1 July 2007 to 29 February 2012. The ATO says these statistics are being published for the first time. Highlights from the data include: around 70% of taxpayer litigation concerns income tax assessments; 97% of…
The ATO on Wed 16.5.2012, issued Taxpayer Alert TA 2012/2 warning taxpayers of arrangements where a NZ based foreign discretionary trust (NZ foreign trust) is used to avoid taxation on Australian sourced income. The arrangements involve the provision of services, at a mark up, to an Australian resident business, or the diversion of Australian sourced…
The ATO, on Fri 18.5.2012, withdrew Practice Statements PS LA 2003/10 (Management of priority technical issues) and PS LA 2004/4 (Referral of interpretative issues to Centres of Expertise for the creation of the precedential ATO view, and early engagement of internal technical specialists in active compliance cases). These have been been replaced by PS LA…
The ATO on Wed 30.5.2012, issued the following Class Rulings: Class Ruling CR 2012/35: Assessable income: football umpires: AFL Riverina Incorporated. It applies from 1 July 2011. The Ruling broadly states that the match fees received by members of the RUA are not assessable income under s 6-5 and s 6-10 of the ITAA 1997.…
The ATO on Wed 23.5.2012, issued the following Class Rulings: : Scrip-for-scrip rollover: restructure of Astron Limited. It applies from 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012. Among other things, the Ruling states that shareholders who make a capital gain on the disposal of their shares can Class Ruling 2012/33choose scrip-for-scrip rollover and disregard the…
The ATO on Wed 16.5.2012, issued Class Ruling CR 2012/32 (Westpac Banking Corporation – Convertible Preference Shares (CPS)). It applies from 23 March 2012 to 30 June 2020. The Ruling broadly states that dividends paid in respect of Westpac CPS will be included in the assessable income of investors under s 44(1)(a)(i) of the ITAA…
The ATO on Wed 9.5.2012, issued the following Class Rulings: : FBT and income tax: employer contributions to the WA Construction Industry Redundancy (No 2) Fund. It applies from 1 April 2011. The Ruling broadly states that the payment of an employer CR 2012/28contribution to the Redundancy Fund pursuant to an “industrial instrument” will be…
The ATO on Wed 2.5.2012, issued Class Ruling CR 2012/27 (Early retirement scheme: BlueScope Steel Limited). It applies from the date of the Commissioner’s approval to 11 June 2012. The Ruling broadly states that the early retirement scheme to be implemented by BlueScope Steel Limited is an early retirement scheme for the purposes of s…
The ATO on Wed 30.5.2012, issued Addenda to the following Taxation Determinations to reflect the changes introduced by the Tax Laws Amendment (2010 Measures No 1) Act 2010: Taxation Determination TD 2008/29: Consolidation: capital gains: do the core consolidation rules in Div 701 of the ITAA 1997 modify the effect of the CGT contract rules…