TR 2017/D5 – Employee remuneration trusts (not Div 83A ’employee share schemes’) – tax effects for employers, trustees and employees

Tax Month - June 2017

This Draft Ruling, was released on 8.6.2017 and sets out the Commissioner’s views on how the taxation laws apply to an employee remuneration trust (ERT) arrangement that operates outside the usual scheme for taxing employee share schemes, in Div 83A of the ITAA 1997. The Draft Ruling deals with the consequences for the employer in terms of when…

GSTR 2017/1 – ruling for overseas suppliers about when they can be satisfied that a recipient is an ‘Australian Consumer’ for the purposes of the supply being taxable under the ‘Netflix’ provisions

Tax Month - June 2017

Under the GST “Netflix tax” rules, the supply of services, digital products or rights by an overseas-based supplier to an Australian consumer is connected with Australia and, therefore, potentially liable to GST (see s9-25(5)(d)&(7) of the GST Act). GSTR 2017/1 was issued on 7 June 2017 and explains how overseas suppliers can determine whether the recipient…

Qld – Duty – Ruling: DA228.1.1 – When the ‘corporate trustee duty’ deduction is available under s228 of the Duties Act (for ordinary transfer duty also paid)

Tax Month - June 2017

The Qld Office of State Revenue has issued Ruling DA228.1.1 – Corporate trustee duty deduction – transfer duty for trust acquisition under s228 of the Duties Act 2001 (Qld). Chapter 3, Part 2 of the Duties Act 2001 imposes corporate trustee duty on the dutiable value of a relevant acquisition and s228 provides a deduction…

NSW – Land Tax – D W Tolson Management Pty Ltd v Chief Comr of State Revenue – land used to rotate cattle used on other properties to eat mushroom waste was a use ‘too remote’ for exemption under a dominant of mushroom propagation

Tax Month - June 2017

The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal has found that a parcel of land used for grazing cattle was not exempt from land tax in the 2011 to 2015 land tax years under the “propagation for sale of mushrooms” category in s10AA(3)(f) of the Land Tax Management Act 1956 (NSW). Quite why land used for grazing…

Vic – Payroll Tax – Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Ltd v Comr of State Revenue (Vic) – taxpayer’s wages  exempt – it was a ‘non-profit organisation’ with a dominant charitable purpose – despite being part of a statutory scheme

Tax Month - June 2017

The Victorian Supreme Court has held that the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Ltd is a not-for-profit charitable organisation and that wages paid to its staff are exempt from payroll tax. Background The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Ltd (TIO) was established in the 1990s to provide a free and independent dispute resolution service for residential and small business…

Morgan and FCT – taxpayer with a hardware business and collectables auction businesses assessed to GST and penalties and failed to have either set aside through lack of evidence (taxpayers’ onus)

Tax Month - June 2017

The AAT has upheld a GST assessment as the taxpayer was unable to prove that it was excessive. The taxpayer operated a hardware store and then carried on a business of auctioning stamps, coins and other collectables. Following an audit of the taxpayer’s BASs for the period from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2010, the Commissioner determined there…

News Australia Holdings Pty Ltd v FCT – interest income not yet paid was still held to have been ‘derived’ during the year as this was the correct ‘reflex’ of income for that year

Tax Month - June 2017, Uncategorized

The Federal Court has held that an accruals basis of accounting for the interest accruing to a company (SRC Holdings Limited, which was owned by News Limited) provided the correct reflex of the company’s true income and that the taxpayer applicant in the case (News Australia Holdings Pty Ltd) was to be assessed on SRC’s…