On Wed 12.10.16, the ATO issued Draft Taxation Ruling TR 2016/D2 to provide guidance on the participation test in Subdiv 768-A of the ITAA 1997 when working out whether an equity distribution received by an Australian corporate tax entity from a foreign company is not assessable and not exempt (NANE) income. Subdivision 768-A provides that…
The Governement introduced a package of 4 Bills to implement the ‘backpacker tax’ changes, it announced on 27 September 2016, that will tax working holiday makers in a particular way (most notably by imposing a 19% tax rate from the first dollar of assessable income, up to $37,000, at which point normal resident marginal tax…
The 2016 NSW Budget introduced a 4 per cent surcharge purchaser duty on the purchase of residential real estate by foreign persons from 21 June 2016. The surcharge is in addition to the duty payable on the purchase of residential property. Foreign persons will no longer be entitled to the 12 month deferral for the…
The Treasury Laws Amendment (Income Tax Relief) Bill 2016 proposes to amend the Income Tax Rates Act 1986 to increase the third personal income tax threshold so that the rate of tax payable on taxable incomes from $80,001 to $87,000 for individuals is 32.5%. On 10.10.16, the Bill passed the House of Reps without amendment…
On 10.10.16, the Senate Economics Legislation Committee tabled its report recommending that the Treasury Laws Amendment (Enterprise Tax Plan) Bill 2016 be passed. However, in a dissenting report, Labor Senators proposed the following amendments to the Bill: only reduce the company tax rate to 27.5% for businesses with a turnover of less than $2m (the…
The Duties Amendment (Motor Vehicle Industry Red Tape Reduction) Bill 2016 (Tas) on 7 October 2016 received Royal Assent as Act No 34 of 2016. The Bill was introduced on 31 May 2016 and had passed all stages without amendment. The Bill amends the Duties Act 2001 (Tas) to broaden the permitted use of demonstrator vehicles under the duty…
A taxpayer has been unsuccessful before the AAT in seeking to be released from his tax debts under s 340-5 of Sch 1 to the TAA. The facts are summarized below and are set out in greater detail below in the extract from the Tribunal’s reasons. In 2006, the taxpayer was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and was…
The High Court has refused the Commissioner special leave to appeal against the decision in Financial Synergy Holdings Pty Ltd v FCT [2016] FCAFC 31. The Full Federal Court had unanimously allowed the taxpayer’s appeal and held that for the purposes of determining the “allocable cost amount” (or cost base) of an asset that came…
On 10 October 2016, the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, the Hon Kelly O’Dwyer MP released Exposure Draft legislation and explanatory material to provide greater certainty in relation to integrity rules regarding the taxation of debt and equity. Australia’s tax rules classify financing arrangements as debt (with deductible interest) or equity according to their…
The AAT has confirmed that a lump sum payment made by Comcare to a former Australian Federal Police officer for arrears of workers’ compensation was assessable in its year of receipt, and not over the income years to which it related. In doing so the AAT confirmed that the “appropriate” accounting method for the taxpayer,…