On 12 December 2014, the Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2014 Measures No 6) Bill 2014 received Royal Assent. The Bill includes amendments that extend the existing business restructure roll-overs available where a member of a company or unit holder in a unit trust can defer the income tax consequences of transactions that occur in the course…
In the keynote address on Tue 20.1.2015, at the Australasian Tax Teachers’ Association 27th annual conference, ATO Second Commissioner Andrew Mills outlined some of the recent changes and developments at the ATO. Mr Mills said the ATO supports the creation of a separate area within the ATO to manage disputes for all taxpayers. As was…
This Practice Statement, released on Thur 15.1.2015, sets out the ATO policy on the settlement of tax and super disputes including disputes involving debt. It states that settlement negotiations or offers can be initiated by any party to the dispute and can occur at any stage including prior to assessments being raised. The ATO notes…
The ATO on Fri 30.1.2015, issued the following IDs: ATO ID 2015/2: Superannuation: superannuation benefits: Journal entry insufficient to constitute payment of a death benefit; and ATO ID 2015/3: Superannuation: death benefits: a member’s benefits must be “cashed” upon death. [LTN 19, 30/1/15]
The ATO on Fri 23.1.2015, issued ATO ID 2015/1 (FBT: exempt benefits: work-related counselling – training courses or activities for employees being made redundant). According to the ID, the payment for, or reimbursement of, a training course or activity provided under a worker retraining program by an employer to an employee being made redundant does…
The ATO on Wed 28.1.2015, issued the following Class Rulings: CR 2015/4: The Belmont Christian College Limited 2014-15 Early Retirement Scheme; CR 2015/5: Scrip-for-scrip roll-over: acquisition of units in Folkestone Social Infrastructure Trust by Folkestone Education Trust; and CR 2015/6: GDF SUEZ International Employee Share Ownership Plan. The ATO also issued an Addendum to Class…
The ATO on Wed 14.1.2015, issued the following Class Rulings: CR 2015/1: Income tax and FBT: customers of Fleet Partners Pty Ltd who use the Fleet Partners Vehicle Log Book (Privacy Protected) report for their log book records; and CR 2015/2: FBT: clients of LogbookMe Pty Ltd who use the LogbookMe In-Car Logbook Solution to…
This Taxation Determination, released on Wed 28.1.2015, states that a payment received by a personal services entity (PSE) from a service acquirer during a period [when] the service provider is not providing services to the acquirer, until further called upon, is personal services income (PSI) within the meaning of s 84-5(1) of the ITAA 1997. It…
Re GHP 104 160 689 PTY LTD v FCT [2014] AATA 515 – The AAT allowed most of a taxpayer’s claims for R&D expenditure at the 125% rate, but disallowed other claims in respect of overlapping expenditure. The case concerned R&D “feedstock expenditure” by a mining company. The ATO said it accepts the Tribunal’s decision…
On 22 December 2014, the ATO released Decision Impact Statements MBI Properties Pty Ltd v FCT [2014] HCA 49. The High Court had unanimously allowed the Commissioner’s appeal, holding that the conditions for the operation of s 135-5 of the GST Act were met, and the Commissioner was correct to assess MBI to an increasing adjustment under that…