Following the decision of the Full Federal Court in FCT v Resource Capital Fund III LP [2014] FCAFC 37 in which the Court unanimously allowed the Commissioner’s appeal and held that the taxpayer, a non-resident limited partnership, was assessable on a capital gain of $58m it made on the sale of shares it held in…
The Government Thur 1.5.2014, released the report of the National Commission of Audit. The Commission was established by the Government as an independent body to review and report on the performance, functions and roles of the Commonwealth government. It ceased on 31 March 2014. The Commission made 86 recommendations – 64 in its Phase 1 Report which…
Treasury on Mon 26.5.2014, released exposure draft legislation which proposes to address a technical issue identified in Australia’s foreign resident CGT regime. Specifically, the exposure draft amendments aim to clarify the definition of permanent establishments located in Australia. The correction is designed to ensure that foreign residents are subject to CGT in relation to CGT assets…
On 14 May 2013, the previous Government announced amendments to the foreign resident CGT Principal Asset Test, which would: value mining, quarrying or prospecting information and goodwill together with the mining rights to which they relate; and remove the ability to use transactions between members of the same consolidated group to create and duplicate assets. On 4 November 2013,…
On 6 November 2013, the Government announced that it would proceed with reforms to tighten the thin capitalisation rules to prevent erosion of the tax base. These reforms are intended to ensure that multinationals do not allocate a disproportionate amount of debt to their Australian operations. Draft legislation has now been released which proposes to: tighten the…
The Government has released draft legislation covering proposed miscellaneous amendments to taxation and superannuation laws. The amendments seek to ensure the law operates as intended by correcting technical or drafting defects, removing anomalies and addressing unintended outcomes. They include: repeal of Assessed Net Amount Concept in the GST Act, amendments re the time at which…
The Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2014 Measures No 3) Bill 2014 was introduced into the House of Reps on Thur 29.5.2014. It proposes to amend the capital allowances provisions in the ITAA 1997 [by amending s40-80(1) and adding s40-80(1AA)-(1AC)] to limit immediate deductibility of expenditure on mining rights and mining information [and varying the…
The Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2014 Measures No 2) Bill 2014 was introduced into the House of Reps on Thur 29.5.2014. It contains the following amendments: Dividend washing – the Bill will amend the ITAA 1997 to introduce an integrity rule [new s207-157 of the ITAA 1997] to limit the ability of taxpayers to…
The Tax Laws Amendment (2014 Measures No 1) Bill 2014 has passed the House of Reps without amendment and now moves to the Senate. The Bill proposes to: amend the GST Act and the TAA to ensure that overpaid GST is refundable only in certain circumstances. [This involves introducing a new Division 142 into the…
Following the 2014 Federal Budget handed down on Tue 13.5.2014, the Tax Laws Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014 along with 14 additional supporting Bills were introduced into the House of Representatives. The Bills propose to amend the ITAA 1997, the Income Tax Rates Act 1986, the Income Tax (Transitional Provisions) Act 1997 and…