The Government has released for comment exposure draft legislation to make the necessary amendments to start emissions trading on 1 July 2014 (as announced by the Prime Minister on 16 July 2013). From that date, a floating price on carbon will apply. Under the previous arrangements, the carbon price was to be $25.40 per tonne from 1 July 2015. Under a…
The following Bills received Royal Assent on 29 June 2013: Tax Laws Amendment (Countering Tax Avoidance and Multinational Profit Shifting) Bill 2013 as Act No 101 of 2013. Contains amendments to Pt IVA of the ITAA 1936 to ensure its effective operation as the income tax general anti-avoidance provision. Also contains significant tranche 2 amendments affecting Australia’s…
The Government has issued for comment a discussion paper on reforms to the Offshore Banking Unit (OBU) regime. As part of the 2013 Federal Budget, the Government had announced that it would amend the OBU regime “to better target genuine mobile financial sector activities and address integrity issues with the current regime”. The regime taxes…
In order to assist funding the Greens’ Plan for a Better Australia, the Australian Greens claim they will raise $42.7bn of revenue by “fixing the mining tax, ending tax breaks for the big mining companies, taxing millionaires fairly and introducing a modest levy on the big banks”. The Greens’ Plan proposes: an effective tax rate…
The Tax Laws Amendment (2013 Measures No 2) Act 2013 has inserted new Div 415 (Designated infrastructure projects) into the ITAA 1997 to provide a new “tax incentive” for entities that carry on a nationally significant infrastructure project that has been designated by the Infrastructure Coordinator. The changes apply to tax losses for the 2012-13 and…
The following Bills received Royal Assent on 28 June 2013: Tax Laws Amendment (Medicare Levy) Bill 2013 as Act No 81 of 2013. Gives effect to the Government’s 2013 Budget proposal to increase the Medicare levy low-income threshold for families, as well as the dependent child component of the threshold. Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (Increased Concessional…
On 12 July 2013, the US Treasury and the IRS announced revised timelines for Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) withholding, new account opening procedures, due diligence transition rules on pre-existing obligations, reporting US accounts, and registration deadlines. A senior Treasury official said that the additional time was intended to allow for more jurisdictions to sign up…
The Government has announced the appointment of Neil Olesen as a full-time Second Commissioner of the ATO for a 5-year period from 1 July 2013. The Assistant Treasurer said Mr Olesen has been acting as a Second Commissioner of Taxation since October 2012 and has worked for 30 years in tax and superannuation administration and has held senior positions…
The Tax Laws Amendment (2013 Measures No 2) Commencement Proclamation 2013 was registered on Thur 11.7.2013. It fixes 11 July 2013 as the start date of the commencement of new rules to provide tax incentives for designated infrastructure projects contained in Parts 1 to 3 of Sch 1 to the Tax Laws Amendment (2013 Measures No 2) Act…
The Government on Wed 24.7.2013, released a Treasury scoping paper examining the risks to the sustainability of Australia’s corporate tax base. Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury said the paper “represents an important piece of analysis, framing the challenges to Australia’s corporate tax system both in terms of our own history and in the broader international context”.…