LIV tells ATO there is a ‘counterbalancing offence’ it could commit – even by finalising its ‘protocol’ for claiming ‘Legal Professional Privilege’ in terms that ‘overreach’ the actual law

Tax Month - November 2021

On Saturday 13.11.2021, the Law Institute of Victoria (LIV) made a submission to the ATO about its draft ‘protocol’ for claiming ‘legal professional privilege’ (a process it does not expect of itself). A central part of this submission is that the Commissioner (and his office) could be committing a State offence, by pushing too hard…

Clough Limited v CofT – payment to cancel employee share rights in takeover not deductible but s40-880 ‘black hole’ write-off allowed

Tax Month - November 2021

On 12 November 2021, the Full Federal Court has upheld a first instance decision that payments totalling $15m, to cancel entitlements under an employee options plan and incentive scheme, were not deductible under s 8-1 of the ITAA 1997. However, the payments were deductible over 5 years under s 40-880. The taxpayer was a publicly listed company…