In a decision handed down on Wed 8.10.2014, the Full Federal Court has unanimously dismissed the Commissioner’s appeal from the decision in Australian Building Systems Pty Ltd v FCT [2014] FCA 116. In that case it was held that where an assessment has not been issued to the taxpayer in respect of a capital gain…
The Government released on Fri 31.10.2014, a Discussion Paper on its proposal to proceed with a 10% non-final withholding tax on the disposal, by foreign residents, of certain “taxable Australian property”. The measure was originally contained in the Labor Government’s 2013-14 Budget and is to start from 1 July 2016. The measure is a collection mechanism to…
The OECD has advised that the new OECD/G20 standard on automatic exchange of information was endorsed on Wed 29.10.2014 at a meeting in Berlin by all OECD and G20 countries as well as major financial centres participating in the annual meeting of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes. A…
The heads of tax administrations from 38 countries participated in the Ninth Meeting of the OECD Forum on Tax Administration (FTA) in Dublin, Ireland on 23-24 October 2014. They agreed that ever greater co-operation will be necessary to implement the results of the BEPS project and automatic exchange of financial account information. Specifically, they agreed: a strategy…
The Government on Mon 20.10.2014 released its Agricultural Competitiveness Green Paper and is seeking comments and feedback on a range of new proposals and policy suggestions. Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said that, in terms of taxation and finance, the Government is also seeking input on proposals to amend income tax averaging provisions, alter non-commercial loss rules…
The Government on Tue 14.10.2014, announced that it will reform the tax treatment of employee share schemes to support start-up companies and boost entrepreneurship. The Government said it will unwind the tax changes introduced by the previous Government in 2009. Specifically, it said it will reverse the changes made in 2009 to the taxing point…
The Senate Economics References Committee is to examine how to develop an effective regulatory system for digital currency (including Bitcoin) that, among other things, ascertains the most appropriate definition of digital currencies under Australian tax law. The Committee will also examine the development of an effective regulatory system that promotes competition and growth of the…
The Government on Tue 7.10.2014, released its response to the report of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services Family Businesses in Australia – different and significant: why they shouldn’t be overlooked. The Committee’s report made 21 recommendations, including several regarding tax matters. The Committee recommended, among other things, that: as part of its…
The Senate on Thur 2.10.2014, voted 34 to 28 to agree to a motion by Greens Leader Senator Milne that the following matter be referred to the Senate Economics References Committee for report by the first sitting day of June 2015: Tax avoidance and aggressive minimisation by corporations registered in Australia and multinational corporations operating in Australia,…
The Acts and Instruments (Framework Reform) Bill 2014 has been referred to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 25 November 2014. The Bill seeks to implement a number of the outstanding recommendations of the 2008 Review of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003. It makes a number of other amendments to…