Treasury on Wed 14.8.2013, released the results of its post-implementation review of the changes to income tax exemption for foreign employment income from 1 July 2009. The changes limited the exemption under s 23AG of the ITAA 1936 in relation to income derived by Australian individual residents unless the income related to certain aid work, charitable work, and…
The Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury, late Mon 5.8.2013, announced 2 further changes to the proposed new tax system for managed investment trusts (MITs) in response to issues raised by the MIT industry in the course of consultation. Mr Bradbury said the changes relate to the under or over attribution of net income that is in…
The Government on Fri 2.8.2013, released a discussion paper on the Administrative and taxing arrangements of employee share schemes (ESS) of start-up companies. It outlines the current arrangements and canvasses possible options for changes to the ESS system. The review was originally announced by the Government on 12 June 2013 and aims to help address barriers facing…
The Government Fri 2.8.2013, released its Economic Statement (August 2013) ahead of the upcoming Federal election. The Government announced that it is “on track” to achieve a modest budget surplus of $4bn in 2016-17. With the forecast moderate slowdown in the economy, the Government said it has made the decision to allow the tax write-downs…
The OECD has advised that the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes has released peer review reports assessing the tax systems of 13 jurisdictions for information exchange. It said that later this year, most of these reviews will feed into the ratings assigned to 50 jurisdictions, backing G20 and Global…
The OECD has released for comment a White Paper on Transfer Pricing Documentation. The OECD said the paper is intended to initiate an international discussion of ways in which compliance with transfer pricing documentation requirements can be made simpler and more straight-forward, while at the same time providing tax authorities with more focused and useful…
The Coalition on Sun 18.8.2013, announced details of its paid parental leave scheme which is proposed to commence from 1 July 2015. The scheme proposes to provide mothers with 26 weeks of paid parental leave, at their actual wage or the national minimum wage (whichever is greater), plus superannuation [up to a cap of id=”mce_marker”50,000 pa]. Under…
The Coalition on Wed 28.8.2013, revealed details as to how it proposes to “get the Budget back under control”. The Coalition confirmed that it would “abolish the carbon tax and associated spending measures apart from the compensation to households in the form of lower taxes and fortnightly pension increases”. It also confirmed that it would…
The Coalition on Wed 21.8.2013, released its policy on boosting manufacturing in Australia. The Coalition pledged that, if elected, it would examine the effectiveness of existing tax incentives and develop recommendations for improving the incentive regime for innovation and R&D investment. It said it would also progressively restore funding to Export Market Development Grants starting…
The Australian Greens have proposed that the company tax rate should be reduced to 28% for small businesses from 1 July 2014. Greens Leader Senator Christine Milne said the proposal has been costed at id=”mce_marker”.75bn over the forward estimates on the budget figures. Source: Australian Greens media release, 7 August 2013 [LTN 151, 7/8/13]