On Sunday 2 August 2020, Victoria stepped up its COVID-19 restrictions – the Greater Melbourne area to ‘Stage 4’. This includes stricter ‘stay at home’ restrictions – 8pm-5am curfew, 5km limit, only 1 hour exercise, only 1 person per household leaving to shop for much reduced essential goods and services. But an important facet of…
On 3 August 2020, the Australian Financial Review posted an article written by its National Affairs Correspondent: Angus Grigg entitled: Tax haven residents hold $5.7 billion of cash in Australia. This information is a result of the ATO publishing non-secret aggregate data from recent information sharing reforms, between Revenue Authorities, which came out of the ‘base…
T a x T e c h n i c a l – M o n t h l y N e w s – August 2020 Edition – ‘Tax Developments’ for tax practitioners by a tax practitioner. Compiled by F John Morgan A member of the Victorian Bar (www.FJMtax.com) Table of Contents ______________________________________________________________________________ COMPILING…
The Tax Institute’s weekly tax newsletter: TaxVine (No. 29, 31.7.20) carried an article by its Director of Tax Policy and Technical’s Report: Mr Andrew Mills, entitled: “Advocating for members through consultation”. This looks at the various consultation forums established by the ATO and the role Institute members play – in advocating for change under the Institute’s…
On 29 July 2020, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released the CPI index number of 114.4 for the June quarter 2020, showing a -2.2 decrease from the March 2020 quarter of 116.6. See below for the tax implications and further detail. [Tax Month – July 2020]
On 10 July 2020, the AAT upheld the ATO’s assessment, deciding that a beneficiary of a discretionary trust, was not entitled to deductions, for interest he incurred on loans used by the trust to acquire rental properties. See below for details. [Tax Month – July 2020]
The Full Federal Court has ruled that a dentist working under a services agreement was not an employee at common law but was an “employee” pursuant to the extended meaning of that term in s 12(3) of the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 (SGAA) – which includes persons working under a contract wholly or principally “for”…
On Wed 29.7.20, NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet and Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes has issued a joint release announcing that the NSW Government will be introducing a land tax discount for new build-to-rent housing projects until 2040 and a new Housing Diversity State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) to provide more housing options to boost construction and…
On 21 July 2020, the Government announced that it would extend JobKeeper by 6 months – ‘JobKeeper 2.0’ as many call it. It would be stepped down over two more quarters, each with 2 tiers, depending on whether the employee or self-employed ‘business participant’ worked more or less than 20 hours a week. The ‘decline…
At the time of announcing ‘JobKeeper 2.0’ the Government also announced that the existing JobKeeper arrangements (JobKeeper 1.0) will continue unaltered, through to the end of the last fortnight: 28 September 2020. It is worth, therefore, revisiting the terms and requirements of JobKeeper 1.0 as they changed over time, up to this point. See below…