The ATO on Fri 10.5.2013, advised that along with Tax Commissioners from the US and UK, it has obtained substantial data which reveals the extensive use of complex offshore structures to conceal assets by wealthy individuals and companies. It says preliminary analysis of the data indicates that the offshore structures are located in a number…
The taxpayers have discontinued their appeal to the Full Federal Court against the decision of Jagot J in Yacoub v FCT (2012) 83 ATR 722 / [2012] AATA 401. The Federal Court’s decision, which now stands, had dismissed appeals by the taxpayers concerning the Commissioner’s decision to disallow an objection to a notice of assessment for the…
The ATO has reminded trustees who make beneficiaries entitled to trust income by way of a resolution that they must do so by the end of the year (ie 30 June). It said the resolution will determine who is to be assessed on the trust’s taxable income. The ATO said trustees should consult the relevant trust…
This Draft Determination, released on Wed 29.5.2013, states that when an employer reimburses an employee for an amount of expenditure incurred to a third party, under a salary sacrifice (or similar) arrangement, and that expenditure would otherwise have been subject to the ‘non-commercial’ business loss provisions in Div 35 of the ITAA 1997, the sub-$250k “income…
The ATO, on Thur 9.5.2013, released a Decision Impact Statement on the decision in AAT Case [2013] AATA 136, Re The Private Tutor and FCT. In that case, the AAT held that a taxpayer was carrying on an enterprise during the relevant period and therefore set aside the Commissioner’s decision cancelling his GST registration. But…
In the 2013 Budget, it was announced that the Government would provide $67.9m over 4 years to the ATO to undertake compliance activity in relation to trust structures. The ATO has released further information on the potential targets of this compliance action utilising its intelligence systems, including new tax return labels. It said some of…
The ATO on Tue 7.5.2013 released details of its administrative treatment regarding the Government’s proposed reforms to update the method for determining the taxable value of airline transport fringe benefits contained in the Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2013 Measures No 1) Bill 2013 which is currently before the House of Reps. According to the…
This Draft Ruling, released on Wed 29.5.2013, sets out the Commissioner’s views on the interpretation of aspects of s 23AG(1AA) of the ITAA 1936. It applies to Australian resident individuals serving in a foreign country as an employee or officeholder. The Draft specifically considers the following issues: meaning of “delivery of Australian official development assistance”; when…
The High Court on Wed 1.5.2013, unanimously granted the Commissioner special leave to appeal from the Full Federal Court decision in Unit Trend Services Pty Ltd v FCT [2012] FCAFC 112 and then immediately allowed the appeal and ordered that certain orders of the Full Federal Court made on 5 October 2012 be set aside and, in…
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has advised that 45 Tax Commissioners have recently gathered for the 8th meeting of the Forum on Tax Administration held on 16-17 May 2013 in Moscow, Russia. In a final communiqué from the Forum, the Commissioners affirmed their commitment to work together to tackle trans-national tax fraud, tax evasion,…