The Full Federal Court has unanimously confirmed that Pt IVA did not apply to a tax benefit of $83m identified by the Commissioner in relation to a capital gain realised by a holding company on the sale of shares in one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries. The Commissioner argued that the tax benefit arose under a…
The Full Federal Court has dismissed Screen Australia’s appeal against an earlier AAT decision which held that a production company was entitled to a producer offset certificate under s 376-65 of the ITAA 1997 in respect of a film series designed to improve household management (called Lush House). The AAT had held the series was…
In a decision handed down on Thur 29.3.2012, the High Court has allowed the Commissioner’s appeal and held that the taxpayer trustees’ administration of the Kalos Metron Charitable Trust had not complied with the requirement for tax exemption under s 50-60 of the ITAA 1997, because the fund was not “applied for the purposes for…
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (the Institute) has recently written to the Treasurer expressing its concern with the timeframes associated with the proposed reforms being considered by the Government’s Business Tax Working Group. The Institute said a longer period of time is required for a more “deliberative consultation process” over the next few…
In a recent speech, the Treasurer spoke on the possibility of considering a carry-back losses regime that is capped, in particular, in the context of a “patchwork economy”. Mr Swan noted that the US, Canada and France have allowed “3 year carry back in recent years”. He said it made “sense for Australia to have…
Treasury has released the Government’s Forward Work Program for Tax Measures as at 5 March 2012. The forward work program sets out the timetable for current and proposed consultation on tax and superannuation measures. It includes: details of discussion papers currently open for consultation eg TOFA tax hedging provisions; discussion papers currently in preparation eg…
Treasury has released documents that were released under a Freedom of Information request in relation to the abolition of the CGT trust cloning tax exception to CGT events E1 and E2 announced by the then Assistant Treasurer on 31 October 2008. [LTN 49, 13/3]
The Government on Wed 7.3.2012, released 2nd exposure draft legislation which proposes to implement Elements 1 and 2 of the Government’s proposed Investment Manager Regime (IMR). The amendments to income tax law will clarify how certain income of foreign funds, for 2010-11 and prior income years, are taxed. The changes address a key area of…
The Prime Minister announced on Friday 2.3.2012, a number of changes to the Cabinet and Ministry. These include: David Bradbury becomes the new Assistant Treasurer, and will also move into the newly-created position of Minister Assisting for Deregulation. Bernie Ripoll becomes Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer. Brendan O’Connor moves into Cabinet to take the position…
The Government has announced it will extend the start date of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission to 1 October 2012. This follows extensive consultation with the not-for-profit sector. The Assistant Treasurer said the extension would also provide more time for the Commission Implementation Taskforce to prepare and distribute further guidance materials to assist charities…