In November 2012, the Assistant Treasurer announced that he had asked Treasury to develop a scoping paper, to be led by the head of the Revenue Group, Rob Heferen to examine the perceived risks to the sustainability of Australia’s corporate tax base from multinational tax minimisation strategies and to identify potential responses. The review by Treasury is…
The Government on Mon 17.12.2012, released for public consultation a paper on draft governance standards for charities registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) and draft regulations on the new ACNC financial reporting framework. The Assistant Treasurer said the draft governance standards are intended to reflect a minimum set of basic governance outcomes…
The Assistant Treasurer on Mon 10.12.2012, officially launched the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC). The ACNC will be responsible for registering and regulating charities, while also working with the sector to provide information and assistance. At the Commonwealth level, the ACNC will administer a Charity Passport underpinned by a “report-once, use-often reporting framework”. Mr…
The Assistant Treasurer, on Fri 7.12.2012, announced that Ms Susan Pascoe AM has been confirmed as the new Commissioner of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC). Since July 2011, Ms Pascoe has been the Head of the ACNC Implementation Taskforce. “Ms Pascoe has held a number of statutory appointments, board memberships and senior management positions in…
The Government on Wed 4.12.2012, announced that it would reform Australia’s anti-dumping system. Dumping is a trade practice where imported goods are sold in Australia at prices below their normal value. The key reforms announced would: establish a new Anti-Dumping Commission to investigate complaints; boost funding to Customs by $24.4m over 4 years so it…
The Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Rules Amendment Instrument 2012 (No 5) was registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments Thur 20.12.2012. It amends the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Rules Instrument 2007 (No 1) to amend Chapters 11 and 41 of the AML/CTF Rules. Chapter 11 of the AML/CTF Rules sets out the…
The Government has released for consultation draft legislation, which contains the next tranche of reforms to improve disclosure of executive remuneration. Importantly, the draft legislation also seeks to clarify the operation of the dividends test under the Corporations Act. In particular, the Government has sought to address stakeholder concerns by incorporating a solvency-based dividends test.…
Treasury Fri 14.12.2012, released for comment draft legislation proposing to insert a definition of “documentary” into the tax law for the purposes of the film tax offsets, and mainly the Producer Offset. The changes will define the term “documentary”, in accordance with the Australian Communications and Media Authority guidelines, as a creative treatment of actuality…
The High Court of Australia (Fees) Regulation 2012 was registered, Tue 11.12.2012. It repeals and replaces the High Court of Australia (Fees) Regulations 2004 to provide for court fees in the High Court of Australia. Changes include general increases to existing civil law fees by 15%, increasing fees payable by corporations by around 40%, and…
The Income Tax Assessment Amendment Regulation 2012 (No 2) was registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments on Tue 11.12.2012. It amends the Income Tax Assessment Regulations 1997 to remove uncertainty concerning the tax treatment of certain hybrid capital instruments (ie capital instruments that have both debt and equity characteristics) as a result of…