The Assistant Treasurer on Tue 15.5.2012, released draft legislation proposing to implement reforms to the tax concession for living-away-from-home allowances (LAFHA) and benefits as announced in the 2011-12 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) and the 2012-13 Budget. The Government said it is reforming the tax concession “by better targeting it at people who are…
Introduced to Lower House The Tax Laws Amendment (Medicare Levy and Medicare Levy Surcharge) Bill 2012 was introduced into the House of Reps on Thur 10.5.2012. It proposes to implement the 2012-13 Budget announcement to increase the Medicare levy thresholds from the 2011-12 income year. Specifically, the Bill proposes to amend: the Medicare Levy Act…
The Tax Laws Amendment (2012 Measures No 3) Bill 2012 was introduced into the House of Reps on Thur 24.5.2012. It contains the following amendments: Employment termination payment (ETP) tax offset – amends the ITAA 1997 so that access to the ETP tax offset and the amount of offset received takes into account an individual’s…
The Tax Laws Amendment (2012 Measures No 2) Bill 2012 was introduced into the House of Reps on Thur 24.5.2012. It contains the following amendments: Directors’ penalty regime – strengthens directors’ obligations to cause their company to comply with its existing PAYG withholding and superannuation guarantee requirements by: ▪ extending the director…
The following Bills were all passed by the House of Reps on Wed 9.5.2012, without amendment and now move to the Senate: Tax Laws Amendment (2012 Measures No 1) Bill 2012. The Bill contains amendments concerning: Anstis amendments; CGT trading stock exemption for super funds; phasing out dependent spouse tax offset; tax exemption for payments…
The Government will insert a regulation-making power in the GST law to prescribe that certain payments between government-related entities are not subject to GST. This extends the earlier measure contained in the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook 2011-12. It is anticipated that the change will have no revenue impact. Date of effect: The change will…
The proposed higher concessional contributions cap for individuals aged 50 and over with superannuation balances below $500,000 will be deferred from 1 July 2012 to 1 July 2014. Accordingly, all taxpayers, regardless of age, will be subject to a concessional contributions cap of $25,000 for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 income years. In 2014-15, the general…
From 1 July 2012, individuals with income greater than $300,000 will have the tax concession on their concessional contributions reduced from 30% to 15% (excluding the Medicare levy). This means that the tax rate on concessional contributions will effectively double from 15% to 30% for very high income earners from 1 July 2012. Currently, the…
The Government will make minor amendments to the 2011-12 Budget measure to ensure the proper functioning of the CGT provisions relating to deceased estates. In particular, the proposed changes: reduce compliance costs involved with the integrity provisions by ensuring that the deceased’s tax return does not need to be amended as the taxing point will…
The Government will make minor extensions to the CGT exemptions for certain compensation payments and insurance policies. This measure will disregard CGT consequences where a taxpayer receives compensation, damages or certain insurance proceeds indirectly through a trust. This will ensure that the taxpayer has the same CGT outcome as a taxpayer who receives such proceeds…