The High Court has agreed to hear the constitutional challenge to the Minerals Resource Rent Tax that has been mounted by Fortescue Metals Group Limited. It is understood that the Full High Court will likely hear the case in March 2013. It is also understood that the Qld and WA Governments have intervened in the…
Chief Justice Keane currently heads the Federal Court of Australia. He will be the 50th person appointed to the High Court since Federation. Chief Justice Keane’s appointment will follow the retirement of the Honourable Justice John Dyson Heydon AC on 1 March 2013 after 10 years of dedicated service on the Court. Chief Justice Keane will be replaced in his current position…
The Interim report of the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee inquiry into tax arrangements for foreign investment in agriculture and the limitations of the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 has been tabled in Parliament. The report made several recommendations, including that: in order to prevent tax revenue leakage and market…
Investment in Australia via managed investment trusts (MITs) grew by 54% from $21.89bn to $33.60bn during the period 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2011, according to the Australian Investment Managers Cross-Border Flows Report released by the Financial Services Council (FSC) today [Tue 13.11.2012]. During this period, the report found that investment from the Asia…
At an address in Melbourne Tue 13.11.2012, the Assistant Treasurer spoke on a range of issues including the Business Tax Working Group, Pt IVA reforms, transfer pricing, and tax reform in general (including State taxes reform). Some of the points he made included: The feedback to the Business Tax Working Group was that many businesses…
Financial planners who provide tax advice will be subject to the requirements of the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA) with effect from 1 July 2013. Currently, the TASA only applies to tax advice provided by tax agents and BAS agents. The Government has now released a Regulation Impact Statement, prepared by the Treasury, on…
The Not-for-profit Sector Tax Concession Working Group has released a consultation paper on tax concessions for the not-for-profit (NFP) sector. The Working Group is seeking feedback on how tax concessions for the NFP sector could be made fairer, simpler and more effective. In the paper, the Working Group considers the history and current status of…
The Treasurer on Wed 7.11.2012, announced that Australia had commenced formal discussions for an intergovernmental agreement with the United States to minimise the impact for Australians of the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) in Australia. Mr Swan made the announcement after meeting with US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner in Washington DC. FATCA was…
In a media release on Thur 15.11.2012, Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott pledged that a Coalition government would simplify the administration of superannuation reporting, allowing small businesses to remit compulsory super payments for workers directly to the ATO, which would then have responsibility to distribute the payments to individual superannuation funds. He also promised that…
On 2 November 2012, the Federal Opposition Leader Mr Abbott released the Coalition’s deregulation agenda. He said stronger economic growth, greater investment, more innovation and higher productivity could be generated if Australia changed the way it addressed regulation. Mr Abbott said excessive regulation created greater costs than benefits and discouraged investment and the willingness to…