Yearly Archives: 2017

Mitsui & Co (Australia) Ltd v FCT – taxpayer loses appeal and can only depreciate ‘farm-in’ costs (can’t apportion between production and exploration) [18]

In a decision handed down on Tue 14.8.2012, the Full Federal Court has dismissed a taxpayer’s appeal and upheld the Commissioner’s disallowance of a deduction made in respect of the part of the consideration the taxpayer attributed to a petroleum production field. In early 2004, Woodside Energy Limited was the holder of an exploration permit…

*FCT v McWilliam – Employee correct to say his ‘acquisition date’ for shares under the old Div 13A (regarding ESS) was the date of his contract and not later when options issued or resolutions passed [17]

In a decision handed down on Wed 8.8.2012, the Full Federal Court has dismissed the Commissioner’s appeal against an earlier AAT decision and held that the taxpayer had applied the correct acquisition date in relation to share options and was therefore not subject to shortfall penalties that had been imposed. The taxpayer was granted options…

Mr Stephen Gageler SC has been appointed as the new High Court judge to replace Justice Gummow [16]

The Governor-General has appointed Mr Stephen Gageler SC as a Justice of the High Court. Mr Gageler will be the 49th person appointed to the High Court since Federation. Mr Gageler’s appointment will follow the retirement of Justice William Gummow AC in October 2012. Mr Gageler has served as the Commonwealth Solicitor General since September…

High Court special leave decisions: 2 granted (Mills and Consolidated Media), one refused (Esso Resources) [15]

The High Court heard the following special leave applications on Fri 17.8.2012: : The Court to appeal against the decision of Millsgranted the taxpayer’s application for special leavethe Full Federal Court in Mills v FCT [2011] FCAFC 158. The Full Federal Court had confirmed that the “imputation benefit” scheme provisions in s 177EA of the…

Submissions sought on the merits of having an Inter-Governmental Agreement to help facilitate the USA FATCA laws [14]

As has been extensively reported in the Thomson Reuters Weekly Tax Bulletin ever since the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was first mooted, FATCA has caused compliance headaches for many financial institutions around the world, including in Australia. FATCA is intended to assist US efforts to improve compliance with US tax laws and…

Treasury’s Forward Work Program for Tax Measures [13]

Treasury has released the Government’s Forward Work Program – Consultation on Tax Measures as at August 2012. The forward work program sets out the timetable for current and proposed consultation on tax and superannuation measures. It includes: details of currently being drafted – eg discussion papersmodernising the taxation of trust income, not-for-profit tax concessions, tax…

Business tax reform discussion paper canvasses options to fund company tax rate cut [12]

The Business Tax Working Group on Mon 13.8.2012, released a discussion paper that canvassed a number of possible ways in which a cut to the company tax rate could be funded from within the business tax system. The 71-page paper noted the options canvassed are not recommendations, and to date, the Working Group has not…

R&D Tax Incentive quarterly ‘opt-in’ credits for companies with turnover under $20m: Treasury consultation paper [11]

The Government on Fri 3.8.2012 released for comment a Treasury consultation paper on the design of the R&D Tax Incentive quarterly credits proposal, which is aimed at providing more timely access for small and medium sized companies to the tax incentive. Under the proposal, quarterly credits will be available to small and medium sized companies…

The Tax Laws Amendment (Investment Manager Regime) Bill 2012 has now passed all stages without amendment and effectively awaits Royal Assent [10]

The Tax Laws Amendment (Investment Manager Regime) Bill 2012 has now passed all stages without amendment and effectively awaits Royal Assent after having been passed by the Senate on Thur 23.8.2012. The Bill contains the first 2 elements of the Government’s Investment Manager Regime. The Bill amends the ITAA 1997 by inserting new Subdiv 842-I…

Charities and NFP Bills introduced [9]

The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Bill 2012, Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (Consequential and Transitional) Bill 2012 and the Tax Laws Amendment (Special Conditions for Not-for-profit Concessions) Bill 2012 were all introduced in the House of Reps on Thur 23.8.2012. The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Bill 2012 will establish a new independent statutory…