The ATO Fri 15.3.2013, released a Decision Impact Statement on the Full Federal Court’s decision in Denlay v FCT (2011) 83 ATR 625. In that case, the Full Federal Court unanimously confirmed that the Commissioner was not in breach of the criminal code in using illegally obtained information to issued amended assessments to a taxpayer…
The Assistant Treasurer on Wed 20.3.2013, gazetted a notice under s 4A of the International Tax Agreements Act 1953 that the double tax agreement between Australia and the Republic of Chile entered into force on 8 February 2013. The new treaty will take effect in Australia in 4 stages: in respect of withholding tax, on income derived on…
The NSW Supreme Court has found that lands transferred to 2 taxpayers by a rugby league club were neither owned by or in trust for the club, and that therefore the exemptions under s 10(1)(g)(iii) and s 10(1)(h) of the Land Management Act 1956 (NSW) did not apply. Penrith Rugby League Club Ltd (Panthers) and some of…
The NSW Supreme Court has allowed a taxpayer’s appeal and affirmed that an arrangement involving a taxpayer constituted a novation, and therefore neither s 8(1)(b)(i) nor s 8(1)(a) of the Duties Act 1997 (NSW) applied. The matters were complex and concerned 4 Call Option Deeds under which the landowners (Grantors) granted to a company (Grantee) options to…
The WA Office of State Revenue (OSR) has issued Commissioner’s Practice DA 29.0 (Nominal duty for certain dutiable transactions relating to deceased estates) which outlines how the Commissioner will apply duty to the transfer of dutiable property as a result of a distribution under a will, a distribution on intestacy, a vesting pursuant to a…
On 17 December 2012, the Victorian State Revenue Office (SRO) released 11 revised duties forms. The SRO had required that the revised forms be used from 1 March 2013 onwards. Following requests to extend this date, the SRO says the cut-off date has now been postponed until 1 May 2013. That is, forms signed/attested to on or after 1 May 2013 must be…
The WA Liberal Party Tue 26.2.2013, announced that a Liberal Government, if re-elected in WA, would raise the payroll tax threshold from its current level of $750,000 to $800,000 in 2014-15 and then $850,000 in 2016-17. WA Treasurer Troy Buswell said more than 16,000 employers would save id=”mce_marker”21m through this tax relief measure. Source: Liberal…
At its meeting on Tue 5.2.2013, the Reserve Bank Board decided to leave the official cash rate unchanged at 3%. The Board said “taking into account the flow of recent information noting that there had been a substantial easing of policy as a result of previous decisions, [it] judged that it was prudent to leave…
On 7 February 2013, US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced new legislation in the US Senate that would seek to combat corporate tax avoidance through the use of tax havens. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) introduced the companion Bill in the House. The Corporate Tax Fairness Act would effectively end deferral by modifying the definition of subpart F under…
In a Communiqué by the Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors at the G20 meeting in Moscow on 15-16 February 2013, the Ministers and Governors said they welcomed the OECD report on addressing base erosion and profit shifting and acknowledged that an important part of fiscal sustainability is securing revenue bases. They said they were…