John Morgan is a tax specialist lawyer of more than three decades experience now practicing at the Victorian Bar - w: www.FJMtax.com e: f.john.morgan@vicbar.com.au

Treasury Legislation Amendment (Improving Accountability and Member Outcomes in Superannuation) Bill 2017 & related SCG Bill – an exposure draft of legislation to increase accountability of superannuation funds – especially poorly performing ‘MySuper’ funds and to stop salary sacrificed super counting towards the employers SGC mandatory minimum level of employer super contributions

Tax Month July 2017

On 24 July 2017, the Government released draft legislation proposing a package of measures aimed at improving accountability and member outcomes in the superannuation system. The legislation will amend the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993, the Corporations Act 2001, and the Financial Sector (Collection of Data) Act 2001 to modernise the superannuation system. The amendments will…

CR 2017/44: scrip-for-scrip roll-over; CR 2017/45: returns of share capital; CR 2017 2017/46: demerger roll-over

Tax Month July 2017

Three Class Rulings were released by the ATO on Wed 26.7.2017: CR 2017/44 – scrip-for-scrip roll-over: acquisition of units in Centuria Urban REIT by Centuria Metropolitan REIT. It provides that unit holders who made a capital gain from disposing of their Centuria Urban REIT units to the responsible entity of Centuria Metropolitan REIT can choose scrip-for-scrip…

Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (SCT) to be amalgamated with other bodies into the new ‘Financial Complaints Authority’ to commence 1 July 2018

Tax Month July 2017

On Wed 26.7.17, Revenue Minister Kelly O’Dwyer announced that the Government has established a transition team to bring the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) into being. AFCA is designed to provide a one-stop-shop for external dispute resolution, as recommended both by the Ramsay Review and the report of the Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman. AFCA…

CPI: 0.2% increase for the June quarter 2017; 1.9% increase for year to 30 June 2017 – relevant for indexation factor for FBT purposes

Tax Month July 2017

The ABS has released the CPI indexation factor for the June quarter 2017 showing a 0.2 increase from the March 2017 quarter to 110.7. This CPI indexation factor is used for FBT purposes concerning remote area benefits (under ss 60 and 60AA of the FBTAA). The Australian Bureau of Statistics said inflation was running at 1.9% through the year…

Anglo American Investments Pty Ltd v DCT – High Court refuses special leave to appeal – attempting to defend collection on the basis allegations of ‘conscious maladministration’ (from using illegally obtained material to assess) ineffective because judicial review on this point not commenced

Tax Month July 2017

On 14 June 2017, the High Court has dismissed a taxpayer’s application for special leave to appeal against the decision of the NSW Court of Appeal in Anglo American Investments Pty Ltd v DCT [2017] NSWCA 17. The NSW Court of Appeal decision, which now stands, had unanimously dismissed the taxpayer’s application for leave to…

GH1 Pty Ltd, in Liquidation and Commissioner of Taxation – AAT denied ITC’s in the face of the Commr’s audit evidence that the credits related to earlier work and credits already claimed – ‘tax invoices’ and MYOB accounting entries do not evidence a supply in the period and Comm’r has no evidentiary onus – related party taxpayers should have given evidence

Tax Month July 2017

In GH1 Pty Ltd, in Liquidation and Commissioner of Taxation the AAT found that the Applicant was not entitled to input tax credits in respect of creditable acquisitions purportedly made in the course of the development of land in Western Australia. The Tribunal agreed with the Commissioner that the Applicant did not establish that the applicant received taxable…

OECD releases The Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent BEPS (MLI) Matching Database – software beta version

Tax Month July 2017

The Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent BEPS (MLI) Matching Database makes projections on how the MLI modifies a specific tax treaty covered by the MLI by matching information from Signatories’ MLI Positions. This tool is a preliminary (beta) version that will be improved over time. The OECD welcomes comments and…

IGT releases new newsletter – ‘IGoT News!’ – covering complaints handling, their reviews, the ATO’s fraud control management; other IGT reviews; taxpayer engagement; unpaid superannuation; taxpayer rights and protection; engaging with the tax profession

Tax Month July 2017

The Inspector-General of Taxation (IGT), Ali Noroozi, released his first edition (July 2017 edition) of his new newsletter – “IGoT News!“. This was on or about 13 July 2017. The newsletter aims to more regularly inform the community of the IGT’s activities and what it is hearing from the community, particularly from the complaint handling…

OECD releases its updated 2017 Transfer Pricing Guidelines for multinational enterprises and tax administrations – application of the “arm’s length principle” post BEPS changes

Tax Month July 2017

The OECD has released the 2017 edition of the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and Tax Administrations. The Guidelines provide guidance on the application of the “arm’s length principle”. The 2017 edition of the Transfer Pricing Guidelines mainly reflects a consolidation of the changes resulting from the BEPS Project. It incorporates the following…