The Treasury Laws Amendment (2017 Measures No 4) Bill 2017 passed the House of Representatives on Wed 16.8.2017, without amendment and similarly passed the Senate on Thursday 17.8.2017. It gained Royal Assent on 23 Aug 2017 as Federal Act No. 94 of 2017. The Bill contains the following amendments: Income tax relief for transfers within a fund…
Michael Andrew AO Chair Black Economy Taskforce 14 August, 2017 Dear Sir Black Economy Taskforce: call for submissions Thank you for the opportunity to comment upon the above matter. The below comments are mine and mine alone, and do not reflect the views of my employer or the various bodies that I serve. I am ready…
On 11 July 2017, the OECD released the draft contents of the 2017 Update to the OECD Model Tax Convention. Interested parties were invited to provide comments with respect to the following parts of the 2017 Update to the OECD Model Tax Convention that had not previously been released for comments: Changes to paragraph 13 of the…
Treasury received 8 submissions in relation to its December 2016 Consultation Paper on Australia’s adoption of the OECD BEPS Multilateral Instrument. The submissions, which have now been released by Treasury, were made by: Australian Private Equity & Venture Capital Association Limited Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand Corporate Tax Association Ernst & Young Insurance Council of Australia…
Labor Bill proposes lowering the turnover threshold, from $200,000 to $100,000 for public reporting of private company tax information (like public companies have their tax information reported by the Commissioner). On Monday 14.8.17, Senator Gallagher (ALP ACT, Manager of Opposition business in the Senate) introduced the Taxation Administration Amendment (Corporate Tax Entity Information) Bill 2017…
The Budget Measures Bill 2017 (SA) was passed by the SA House of Assembly on 10 August 2017 with 10 Government amendments and now moves to the Legislative Council. The amendments concern the foreign ownership surcharge. Where a resident person or trust acquires an interest in land only to later become a foreign person or trust within…
The Federal Court has dismissed an appeal concerning the termination of a tax agent and a related tax agent company. Previously, the AAT had affirmed the Tax Practitioners Board decision to terminate the tax agent’s registration and the registration of a company with whom he was related. The Board did so under s40-15(1)(b) of the…
On 10.8.17, ASIC announced that it had disqualified Mr R of New South Wales from being an approved self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) auditor for auditing the SMSF of a close family member. ASIC determined that Mr R had breached fundamental independence and audit requirements. Given the nature of these breaches, it was considered appropriate to disqualify…
On 10.8.17, the Treasurer issued a press release welcoming New Zealand’s decision to join Australia in tackling multinational tax avoidance. He said: Australia is a strong advocate for all jurisdictions to adopt these measures. New Zealand will take action against multinationals that use artificial arrangements to avoid having a taxable presence in New Zealand. In addition to…
On Wed 9.8.2017, the ATO issued Product Ruling PR 2017/9 (OnePath Life – OneCare Policy – Life Cover, Total and Permanent Disability Cover and/or Trauma Cover). It provides that: the monthly payment of insurance benefits in accordance with the “instalment benefit payment type” is not assessable income of the recipient (the policy owner or a nominated…