The Federal Circuit Court of Australia Legislation Amendment Bill 2012 was passed by the House of Reps on Wed 10.10.2012, without amendment and now moves to the Senate. It will amend the Federal Magistrates Act 1999 and other legislation to rename the Federal Magistrates Court as the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, and to change…
The Federal Court has held that a taxpayer was not entitled to deduct a loss transferred to it from a related joint venture company in respect of a project to explore certain mining exploration tenements. This loss included part of a balancing adjustment deduction for “allowable capital expenditure” (ACE) claimed by the joint venture company…
The Federal Court has dismissed a taxpayer’s application under s 39B(1A) of the Judiciary Act 1903 that he was entitled to a credit of $160,0000 for tax withheld from payments of salary and wages paid to him in the 2004 income year by a company of which he was a director, employee and 50% shareholder.…
The Full Federal Court has unanimously dismissed the appeal of the taxpayers (ie Anthony Stewart, John Cornell, Paul Hogan and Rimfire Films Pty Ltd) from the decision at first instance in Australian Crime Commission v Stewart & Ors [2012] FCA 29 in which the Federal Court held that legal professional privilege did not apply to…
A taxpayer has suffered a double defeat in the Full Federal Court – firstly, the Commissioner’s appeal against a decision that damages were received by the taxpayer in a fiduciary capacity was upheld, with the result that the damages were assessable to the taxpayer; and, secondly, his appeal against a decision that distributions from a…
On 10 October 2012, the High Court heard the taxpayer’s appeal against the Full Federal Court decision in Mills v FCT [2011] FCAFC 158. The Court reserved its decision but has released a transcript of the hearing – [2012] HCATrans 259. The Full Federal Court had confirmed, by majority, that the “imputation benefit” scheme provisions…
In a 4:1 majority decision (Heydon J dissenting), the High Court on Tues 2.10.2012, held that Qantas Airways Limited was liable to pay GST when it received fares on unclaimed flights. The Court allowed the Commissioner’s appeal against the Full Federal Court decision in Qantas Airways Ltd v FCT (2011) 81 ATR 816. The Full…
As part of the 2012-13 Budget, the Government announced it will ensure that Australia’s implementation of the Basel III capital reforms does not preclude certain Tier 2 regulatory capital instruments from being classified as a debt interest for the purposes of the income tax law. The Government on Wed 31.10.2012, released for comment exposure draft…
Following the establishment of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), the Assistant Treasurer has announced that annual review fees currently charged by ASIC will be removed for Australian charities. From 1 July 2013, registered charities will no longer have to pay annual fee (ranging from $43 to $1,086) as oversight for the not-for-profit sector…
The Business Tax Working Group (BTWG) on Wed 24.10.2012 released its draft final report on whether a revenue-neutral lower company tax rate can be supported. Overall, the Working Group said it was not able to recommend a revenue-neutral package to lower the company tax rate; however, it said that Australia should have “an ambition” to…