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

*Meaning of ‘limited recourse debt’: Treasury releases discussion paper seeking views for Budget announcement to limit deductions when taxpayer not at risk [9]

Treasury has released a discussion paper seeking views on the 2012-13 Budget announcement to clarify the definition of limited recourse debt. As part of the 2012-13 Budget, the Government announced it would clarify that limited recourse debt includes arrangements where the creditor’s right to recover the debt is limited (contractually or otherwise) to the financed…

Certain Instruments (Tier 2 capital instruments under Basel III) can be treated as debt – Treasury releases discussion paper on Budget announcement [8]

In the 2012-13 Budget, the Government announced that it would amend the income tax legislation in light of APRA’s adoption of the Basel III capital reforms. It would ensure that on commencement of the Basel III capital reforms on 1 January 2013, certain capital instruments issued by authorised deposit-taking institutions would not be precluded from…

*Bad debts written off between related parties – Treasury releases discussion paper on 2012-13 Budget announcement to deny deduction and disregard gain [7]

As part of the 2012-13 Budget, the Government announced it would ensure a more consistent tax treatment for bad debts between related parties that are not members of a tax consolidated group. The measure would deny the creditor a tax deduction for a bad debt written-off, where the debtor is a related party. In addition,…

*Scrip-for-scrip rollover amendments to improve integrity provisions – Treasury paper released to consult on provisions to date back to 8 May 2012 [6]

In the 2012-13 Federal Budget, the Government announced it would amend the integrity provisions of the CGT scrip-for-scrip roll-over to remove what it said were significant tax minimisation opportunities. The changes are intended to apply from 7:30pm (AEST) on 8 May 2012. Treasury on Fri 13.7.2012, released a proposals paper designed to form the basis…

Film producer tax offset – definition of “documentary” – further details [5]

The Government has issued further advice about its announcement in the 2012-13 Federal Budget to update the legislation governing the Producer Offset to include a definition of “documentary” and related terms. The Producer Offset offers a refundable tax offset to eligible film and television productions, including documentaries. A “documentary” in this context is a creative…

Tax free treatment of water infrastructure improvement receipts – draft legislation released with effect back to 1 April 2010 [3]

The Government has released for comment draft legislation and explanatory material for the tax treatment of water infrastructure improvement payments. In February 2011, the Government had announced that it would eliminate the timing difference between when payments are taxed and when deductions are available for water efficiency investment grants under the Sustainable Rural Water Use…

Draft charities legislation referred to Reps Economics Committee over Parliamentary Winter Recess [2]

The Government announced on Fri 6.7.2012, that it had referred the draft Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) legislation to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics, for an inquiry over the Winter Parliamentary break (Parliament resumes on 14 August 2012). The Government will then consider any recommendations the Committee makes, before introducing the…