On 24 September 2021, Treasury has released exposure draft legislation proposing a second round of miscellaneous and technical amendments to Treasury portfolio laws, covering income tax, superannuation, corporations, foreign takeovers and consumer credit laws. Although the intent of the Exposure Draft – Treasury Laws Amendment (Measures for Consultation) Bill 2021: Miscellaneous and Technical Amendments (No 2) is to make…
On Mon 27.9.2021 Treasury released the Exposure Draft – Treasury Laws Amendment (Measures for a later sitting) Bill 2021: Retirement income covenant. The Draft Bill will insert a new covenant in the SIS Act to require trustees of a registrable superannuation entity (RSE) to develop a retirement income strategy for beneficiaries who are retired or…
The ATO has released a draft Protocol containing the ATO’s recommended approach for identifying communications covered by Legal Professional Privilege (“LPP“) and making LPP claims to the ATO – most likely to arise when taxpayers and practitioners assert that the Commissioner is not entitled see or seize material, because of LPP. This typically arises when the Commissioner…
A taxpayer has had mixed success before the Small Business Claims Tribunal in arguing that the supply of gold was GST-free. The taxpayer acquired gold which it purported to refine so that it satisfied the definition of precious metal. This meant that the supply by the taxpayer was GST-free under s 38-385 of the GST Act (or…
The ATO has extended to 2021-22 the following administrative concessions for SMSFs impacted by COVID-19 that were offered for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 financial years: SMSF residency test– if a trustee or director is stranded overseas due to COVID-19, the ATO will not apply compliance resources to that aspect of the SMSF residency test; temporary rent relief– the…
The Full Federal Court has unanimously upheld a decision that a notice to produce documents was valid. In May 2018, the ATO issued a notice pursuant to s 353-10 of the TAA53 requiring CUB to produce certain documents. CUB refused to produce some of the documents claiming legal professional privilege (LPP). In March 2020, the ATO issued a further s 353-10 notice requiring…
Mon 20.9.2021, Treasury released exposure draft Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Amendment (2021 Measures No 3) Regulations 2021. The Draft Regulations propose changes to the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Act 2012 (the Act) to: increase the annual revenue thresholds used for determining whether a registered entity is a small-registered entity (less than $0.5m), a medium registered entity…
Service NSW is requiring businesses to reconfirm each fortnight their eligibility for JobSaver and the COVID-19 Micro-business Grant. In an update of its Common Questions, Service NSW said businesses must reconfirm their eligibility for each JobSaver payment at the end of each fortnight. While September payments will continue even if a business does not confirm eligibility, any payments after that…
The Federal Court has made declarations that Colonial First State Investments Limited (CFSIL), as trustee of the Colonial FirstChoice Fund, made false or misleading representations to members in relation to MySuper. CFSIL’s conduct was the subject of a case study by the Banking Royal Commission. The Court declared that on at least 12,978 occasions, CFSIL made misleading…
Treasury has released a consultation paper on its review into occupational exclusions in default insurance offered through MySuper products. The review will focus on default cover in respect of life and total and permanent disability (TPD) insurance which trustees are required to provide to MySuper members. The Government has expressed concern that occupational exclusions may result in default insurance…