Simplified GST Accounting Methods Legislative Instrument (No. 1) 2007 – the Commissioner registered this determination on the Federal Register of Legislation on Wed 27.9.2017. The Determination, made under s 123-5(1) of the GST Act, which provides eligible retailers with the choice to use a simplified accounting method (SAM) to help work out their net amount by…
The AAT has upheld amended GST and income tax assessments issued to an accountant. The taxpayer and his wife carried on an accounting practice in partnership. In late 2006, however, a deed of dissolution was executed in accordance with Family Court consent orders, declaring that the partnership was dissolved by mutual consent on 1 June 2006. The…
The Trump Administration, the House Committee on Ways and Means, and the Senate Committee on Finance, have announced that they have developed a unified ‘framework‘ to achieve, what they call a “pro-American, fiscally responsible tax reform”. The document is called a “Unified Framework for Fixing our [America’s] Tax Code“. This is the first emanation of…
On 28 September 2017, the Revenue Minister: Kelly O’Dwyer announced the Treasury’s release of a consultation paper entitled “Combatting Illegal Phoenixing”. The Minister said: “The Consultation Paper seeks views on proposed reforms to the corporations and tax laws to deter and disrupt the core behaviours of phoenix operators, while minimising any unintended impacts on legitimate businesses…
The financial statements in BHP’s Annual Report gives some insight into BHP’s tax disputes, which had been the focus of the Parliamentary inquiry (n Item 5: Income Tax Expense, p173 of the Annual Report). It discloses that it has disputed transfer pricing liabilities, in relation to its Singapore ‘Marketing Hub’ of $897m for the 11…
The Federal Court has effectively dismissed a taxpayer’s claim for relief from fraud or evasion assessments. On 24 April 2013, the Commissioner issued amended assessments to the taxpayer for the 2007 to 2010 income years inclusive in reliance on s170(1) item 5 of the ITAA 1936 (fraud or evasion). The taxpayer brought proceedings under s 39B of the…
The High Court on 14 September 2017 dismissed the taxpayer’s application for special leave to appeal from the Full Federal Court decision in Cable & Wireless & Pacific Holding BV (in liquidation) v FCT [2017] FCAFC 71. The Full Federal Court decision, which now stands, unanimously dismissed the taxpayer’s appeal against a decision that it was not…
On Monday 18.9.17, the Government released exposure draft legislation proposing to exclude corporate tax entities from qualifying for the lower small business company tax rate if 80% or more of the entity’s assessable income is passive income. The Minister for Revenue said the Government’s decision to cut the tax rate to 27.5% for small companies…
The Full Federal Court has overturned the AAT’s decision that the taxpayer was assessable on two trust distributions, made to her for two reasons. The first was that it confirmed the Trusts’ assumed losses for the relevant years. The second was that she had no ‘present entitlement’ to any trust income, either because the alternate…
The Government promulgated Taxation Administration Regulations 2017 , which were registered on Thur 21.9.2017. They are to replace the 1976 Regulations which were due to sunset on 1 October 2017. The remade 2017 Regulations have been revised in several respects to adopt simpler language and remove duplicate or redundant provisions. However, the 2017 Regulations are not intended to alter…
