The Duties Regulation 2013 (Qld) was gazetted on 16 August 2013. The 2013 Regulation remakes the Duties Regulation 2002 (Qld), which is due to expire on 31 August 2013. The provisions contained in the 2002 Regulation remain necessary for the continued operation of the Duties Act 2001 (Qld) – this includes, for example, prescribing the activities which qualify as…
The First Home Owner Grant Amendment Bill 2013 (ACT) received notification on 26 August 2013 as Act No 34 of 2013. It had passed all stages without amendment and makes legislative changes to increase the ACT First Home Owner Grant to id=”mce_marker”2,500. The grant has also been retargeted to new and substantially renovated properties only. The measures…
The Duties (Duty Deferral) Amendment Bill 2013 (ACT) was introduced into the ACT Legislative Assembly on 8 August 2013. As part of the ACT Government’s housing affordability measures, amendments are being made to the First Home Owner Grant Act 2000 (ACT) which will take effect from 1 September 2013. These amendments will retarget the grant to new and substantially…
The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) says it has recently investigated a number of cases where tax agents had been approached by third parties advising that they were acting on the authority of a number of taxpayers and the agents subsequently lodged income tax returns containing false payment summaries and other false information. The income tax…
The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) has advised that 2 additional Board approved courses have been added to its qualifications list for BAS agents. The list is available on the TPB website. [LTN 157, 15/8/13]
The Federal Court has granted an application by the Tax Practitioners Board for the imposition of civil penalties under the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA), together with declaratory and injunctive relief in respect of numerous contraventions of the TASA alleged against the respondent. The Court noted the parties had agreed to a penalty of…
The Tax Practitioners’ Board (TPB) has issued for comment the following exposure draft information sheets: Exposure draft TPB (I) D17/2013 (Code of Professional Conduct – reasonable care to ascertain a client’s state of affairs) – This Draft Information sheet provides guidance on the application of Code Item 9. Code Item 9 requires registered agents to…
ASIC Commissioner Greg Tanzer on Fri 30.8.2013, provided a regulatory update on ASIC’s work in relation to self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) at the Tax Institute’s National Superannuation Conference. Key points include: SMSF advice and additional disclosure requirements – Mr Tanzer said that as part of the next stage of the SMSF taskforce, ASIC will release…
The Tax Office has released its SMSF News (Edition 27) indicating that it will start issuing the first assessments for the new Division 293 tax in January 2014 for individuals above the $300,000 high-income threshold for the 2012-13 financial year. The Tax Office said it will determine who is liable to pay the Div 293 tax by adding…
Accountants who are thinking about providing SMSF advice should choose the licensing option that best suits their business model, says the SMSF Professionals’ Association of Australia (SPAA). Liz Ward, Head of SPAA’s Education Services, said 1 in 4 accountants who are SPAA members (and not operating under an Australian financial services licence (AFSL)) have decided…