On 3 May 2019, Industry Super Australia, released a report entitled: ‘Super Scandal – unpaid Super Guarantee in 2016-17. It reported that analysis shows since the first ISA analysis of ATO data in 2013/14, the number of workers short-changed super has climbed by 90,000 to a total of 2.85 million Australians being ripped off $5.94 billion…
On 3 May 2019, a notice was published in the Federal Government Gazette (C2019G00400) specifying the repayment incomes and repayment rates for the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) for the 2019-20 income year. It has been made under the Higher Education Support Act 2003. The minimum repayment income for the 2019-20 income year is $45,880. See…
On 17 April 2019, the New Zealand Government released its respond to the recommendations of the independent Tax Working Group report. The Government is not adopting any of the recommendations on capital gains taxation and has agreed no further work is necessary on that aspect of the report. See below for the responses. [Tax Month –…
On 25 April 2019, the OECD released the tenth edition of its publication: the OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital. This full version contains the full text of the Model Tax Convention as it read on 21 November 2017, including the Articles, Commentaries, non-member economies’ positions, the Recommendation of the OECD Council, the…
Australian Financial Review, p.40, Monday 29 April 2019 – written by Adele Feguson – link to article Tax Technical observations: For anyone interested in this, it is well worth following the links embedded in this article. Richard Boyle attempted to make protected disclosures under Commonwealth public service whistleblower legislation: Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013, and…
The prominent Kate Carnell, in her capacity as the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, issued an important report, on the ATO’s debt collection practices, including ‘garnishee notices’, which challenges contrary conclusions by the IGT one month earlier (see related Tax Technical article) and the Commissioner’s response to this apparent vindication (see related TT…
In March 2019, the Commissioner issued a statement welcoming the apparent vindication of his office, in the Inspector General’s (IGT) report on allegations of garnishee notice abuses, aired in the ABC’s Four Corners program, nearly one year earlier (in April 2018) [see related Tax Technical Article]. I doubt that we have heard the last of…
On 13 March 2019, the IGT handed down his self initiated inquiry into whether an ATO ‘whistleblower’s allegations were correct – in the ABC’s Four Corners program [see related TT Article]. The IGT found ‘no evidence’ to support these allegations. The Commissioner welcomed this report [see related TT Article]. The ‘Australian Small Business Ombudsman’ Kate…
The Full Federal Court has allowed the Commissioner’s appeal against the decision of Pagone J in Resource Capital Fund IV LP v FCT [2018] FCA 41. The Federal Court had allowed an appeal by 2 US private equity limited partnerships in relation to the proper tax treatment of substantial profits made on the sale their shares…
Overview: I made the following submission to the Independent Review of the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) and of the Act it regulates: the Tax Agents Services Act 2009 (headed by Mr Keith James). It submits that the ‘public interest’, in having suitable consumer protection, in all aspects of tax practice, will be best served…