The AAT has upheld GST and penalty assessments against a taxpayer but held that the taxpayer’s cancelled GST registration be restored. The taxpayer carried on what the AAT said might be called in layman’s terms a computer repair business. Following an audit of the taxpayer’s BASs for the period 31 March 2007 to 28 February 2011, the ATO issued…
The Federal Court has denied a taxpayer its claims for input tax credits for the periods between 1 July 2004 and 31 December 2006 on the basis of finding it had no entitlement to ITCs in respect of its payment of invoices for the provision of legal services in an individual’s defence of his criminal proceedings and in respect…
The Commissioner has lodged an application for special leave to appeal to the High Court against the Full Federal Court decision in MBI Properties Pty Limited v FCT [2013] FCAFC 112. The Full Federal Court had overturned an earlier decision and unanimously held that a taxpayer, that had purchased 3 residential apartments which were subject…
In a recent address, ATO Second Commissioner Geoff Leeper gave an idea of what he said was the ATO’s 2020 vision. By 2020, he said: there will be a whole-of-government account, which will provide businesses with a complete view of their taxation relationship with the ATO; businesses will use software to keep their records; the…
The ATO has advised that it is exploring the concept of how basic assurance work might be done using existing external compliance-assurance processes (ECAP). As part of this project, the ATO says it will consider a new approach to risk-assurance work relating to some publicly listed companies. These would be taxpayers the ATO has categorised…
The Australian Federal Police (AFP), the ATO and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection on Tue 12.11.2013, issued a warning against participating in recent taxation fraud schemes. The warning comes after the agencies recently disrupted an organised criminal syndicate allegedly stealing information and creating fictitious payment summaries to obtain fraudulent refunds. Five offenders allegedly…
The ATO has provided what it calls an early engagement process whereby large businesses can meet with the ATO prior to them making a decision to lodge and amendment or objection request against an income tax assessment. The ATO says this new approach is available for corrections or changes to Large Business Income Tax returns…
The ATO has announced that it is reviewing arrangements involving accountants, lawyers and other professionals operating through partnerships of discretionary trusts. It has issued Taxpayer Alert 2013/3 that describes arrangements where an individual purports to make the trustee of a discretionary trust a partner in a firm of accountants, lawyers or other professionals, but fails…
The ATO has released an updated version of its Code of settlement practice. It provides guidance for ATO staff on the settlement of taxation disputes in relation to all taxpayers, and where settlement could be considered. The Code has been updated to, among other things, recreate several tables, replace broken links, and repair formatting. The…
The ATO on Thur 7.11.2013, released Practice Statement Law Administration PS LA 2013/6 to outline the ATO’s policy in relation to indirect tax sharing arrangements for the collection from GST groups and joint ventures, and other entities. The PS LA states that a group liability (including joint ventures and other entities) will be recorded on…