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

*Doubling the tax on superannuation contributions for those earning over $300,000: draft legislation released [78]

The Government on Wed 1.5.2013, released for public consultation draft Tax Laws Amendment (Sustaining the Superannuation Contribution Concession) Bill 2013 and draft Superannuation (Sustaining the Superannuation Contribution Concession) Imposition Bill 2013. They propose to reduce the tax concession that individuals with income above $300,000 receive on their concessional superannuation contributions from 30% to 15% by…

Re McLennan and FC – Superannuation withdrawal and re-contribution hit with excess contributions tax – nothing ‘special’ to disregard the excess [89]

A taxpayer who withdrew and re-deposited his superannuation has been hit with excess contributions tax of $31,620 after the AAT agreed with the Commissioner that there were no “special circumstances” to disregard the excess contributions under s 292-465 of the ITAA 1997. In January 2009, the taxpayer withdrew $366,573 from his superannuation fund and placed it in bank…

*Indexation of certain superannuation thresholds for 2013-14 [86]

As a consequence of the amendments to the indexation provisions proposed by the Tax Laws Amendment (2013 Measures No 2) Bill 2013, the following superannuation thresholds will be increased for 2013-14 to: Superannuation guarantee: maximum contribution base – $48,040 (up from $45,750 for 2012-13). Genuine redundancy and early retirement payments – tax-free amounts: base amount…

GSTD 2013/D3 – GST-free non-accommodation supplies by Charities etc at less than 75% of the consideration provided by the Charity etc – depreciating capital items [76]

This Draft GST Determination, released on Wed 29.5.2013, states that a portion of the consideration a supplier has provided for acquiring capital items that diminish in value over time can be included when calculating whether a supply in that period is GST-free under s 38-250(2)(b)(ii) of the GST Act (A New Tax System (Goods and Services…

Kronen v Comr of Taxation – Court dismisses application re super entitlements [88]

An applicant has been unsuccessful before the Federal Court in a matter concerning his claimed entitlement to unpaid superannuation contributions (some $4,850) from his then employer. In earlier legal proceedings before the Federal Court (Besanko J in Kronen v FCT [2012] FCA 1463), the applicant had attempted to have the Commissioner (through the Tax Office) enforce…

*More MySuper reforms – tax loss and gain rollovers on transfers to ‘MySuper’ Fund [84]

The Superannuation Laws Amendment (MySuper Capital Gains Tax Relief and Other Measures) Bill 2013 was introduced in the House of Reps today. It contains the following amendments: would amend the ITAA 1997 to facilitate the Government’s MySuper reforms by providing income tax relief to superannuation funds where there is a mandatory transfer of default members’…