The Federal Court has denied the Commissioner’s request for access to documents that are part of Family Law proceedings. The case involved an appeal against an appealable objection decision under s 14ZZ of the Taxation Administration Act 1953. The applicant is International Litigation Partners Pte Ltd. In the course of the proceeding, the Court said the…
The AAT has held that no special circumstances existed to warrant granting a taxpayer’s request that the Commissioner exercise his discretion to allocate excess super contributions to another year. The taxpayer had contributed over $678,000 into his superannuation funds over a 3-year period when the statutory limit was $450,000. The Commissioner said the taxpayer must…
The AAT has allowed a taxpayer’s objection to amended assessments issued to him for the 2009 and 2010 income years after finding the taxpayer was not a “resident” of Australia as that term is defined in s 6(1) of the ITAA 1936. The Commissioner had issued amended assessments to the taxpayer increasing his assessable income for…
The Full Federal Court has unanimously allowed the taxpayer’s appeal from the decision in PTTEP Australasia (Ashmore Cartier) Pty Ltd v FCT [2013] FCA 1175. In that case, the Court at first instance held in the Commissioner’s favour that in calculating the taxpayer’s taxable profit under s 22 of Petroleum Resource Rent Tax Assessment Act 1987…
In a decision handed down on Fri 13.6.2014, the Full Federal Court has held that Hunger Project Australia (HPA) is a public benevolent institution even though it was predominately engaged in fund raising. HPA is a not-for-profit company, which is part of a global network of entities that operate under the name “The Hunger Project”.…
The High Court on Wed 11.6.2014, dismissed a taxpayer’s appeal from the Full Federal Court decision in Howard v FCT [2012] FCAFC 149. The Full Federal Court had upheld the Commissioner’s appeal against a decision that damages were received by the taxpayer in a fiduciary capacity (meaning the damages were thus assessable to the taxpayer).…
Small Business Minister Bruce Billson recently announced changes to the PAYG instalment thresholds (see below), meaning many people may no longer have to pay PAYG instalments. The ATO has now advised that, following the Minister’s announcement, the following PAYG instalment threshold changes will apply from 1 July 2014; the business or investment income threshold will increase from $2,000 to…
The Chair of the Senate Select Committee into the Abbott Government’s Commission of Audit presented the final report in the Senate on Thur 19.6.2014. The Committee made 4 recommendations. Among other things, the Committee recommended that the Government white paper on tax reform include a review of all government tax expenditures and concessions. It also…
AUSTRAC has announced that Australia has signed an agreement to share financial intelligence with Peru. “Criminals involved in money laundering, terrorism, tax evasion, drug trafficking and other serious crimes do not respect borders, so cooperation is needed between financial intelligence units and law enforcement in a range of countries,” said Minister for Justice Michael Keenan. The…
The House of Reps Standing Committee on Tax and Revenue on Fri 6.6.2014, launched its inquiry into tax disputes. The inquiry will cover all categories of taxpayers and include: fair treatment and respect of taxpayers; how the ATO uses performance information in managing tax disputes; whether the legal framework could be updated to encourage earlier…