Category Archives: Tax Month – October 2016

Superannuation sector – AUSTRAC’s first ‘money laundering and terrorism financing’ risk assessment

On Mon 31.10.2016, AUSTRAC published the first money laundering and terrorism financing (ML/TF) risk assessment into Australia’s superannuation sector. The Minister for Justice, Michael Keenan, said the assessment was developed in close partnership with the superannuation industry and identified a range of opportunities for the sector to further harden itself against threats. AUSTRAC identified higher than…

FCT v Jayasinghe – Commissioner seeks leave to appeal the FFC majority decision that the taxpayer was entitled to tax exemption on his UN remuneration under international immunities legislation

The Commissioner has lodged an application for special leave to appeal to the High Court against the Full Federal Court decision in FCT v Jayasinghe [2016] FCAFC 79. The Full Federal Court had by majority dismissed the Commissioner’s appeal from an AAT decision which had found that a taxpayer was exempt from his earnings as the…

Conveyancers may need to register with TPB – foreign resident capital gains withholding (lawyers are ok – they are exempted from regulation)

Conveyancers may have clients that are impacted by new rules, in place since July 2016, that now apply to vendors disposing of certain taxable Australian property under contracts. Chair of the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB), Mr Ian Taylor, has advised conveyancers that they may need to register with the TPB, when assisting clients to meet new requirements under the foreign resident…

DRAFT Treasury Laws Amendment (Enterprise Incentives) Bill 2016: no s1274 public disclosure for ordinary share ESS interests, not listed, only offered to employees – if issuer is sub-10 year incorporated and sub-$50m turnover

As part of the National Innovation and Science Agenda, the Government is taking steps to make it easier for employers to provide incentives to their employees through Employee Share Schemes (ESS). In particular, the Government has committed to: limit the requirement for disclosure documents given to employees under an eligible ESS and lodged with the…

Crowdfunding – ATO’s discussion paper about the tax implications for the ‘Promoter’, ‘Intermediary’ and ‘Contributors’

Overview – Crowdfunding is the practice of using internet platforms, mail-order subscriptions, benefit events and other methods to find supporters and raise funds for a project or venture. As the industry expands and new developments arise, we will review and update the information. If you’re involved in crowdfunding – regardless of your role – you…

CR 2016/81-83 – Special dividend in Ascanio Scheme of Arrangement; early retirement schemes by ‘Ward McKenzie’ and ‘Henwood Downs’

On Wed 26.10.2016, the Commissioner issued the following Class Rulings: CR 2016/81: Asciano Limited – Scheme of Arrangement and Special Dividend. It applies from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017. CR 2016/82: the “Ward McKenzie Early Retirement Scheme 2016”. It applies from 26 October 2016 to 31 December 2016. CR 2016/83: the “Henwood Downs Early Retirement Scheme 2016”. It applies from 26 October 2016…

PCG 2016/D16 on the meaning of ‘fixed interests’ and ‘fixed trusts’ including the Commissioner’s power to treat interests as ‘fixed’ under s272-5 of the ITAA36, Schedule 2F (relating to trust losses)

On Wed 26.10.2016, the Commissioner released Draft Practical Compliance Guideline PCG 2016/D16 relating to the meaning of ‘fixed entitlements’ in ‘fixed trusts’ as defined in the trust loss provisions. This affects not only the requirements for a trust to carry forward losses but also a large number of provisions in income tax law, which are…

G20/OECD BEPS Project – network of more than 1,000 relationships now in place to automatically exchange information between tax authorities

20/10/2016 – Today, as a further step to implement the OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS), the first series of bilateral automatic exchange relationships were established among the first batch of jurisdictions committed to exchanging information automatically as of 2017. With still a year to go before the first exchanges of information on financial accounts pursuant to…

G20/OECD BEPS Project – Action 14: effective dispute resolution mechanisms to resolve tax treaty-related disputes – Key documents released to implement Mutual Agreement Procedure for ‘peer review and monitoring’

20/10/2016 – Today the OECD released key documents, approved by the Inclusive Framework on BEPS, that will form the basis of the Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) peer review and monitoring process under Action 14 of the BEPS Action Plan. The Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting identified 15 actions to address BEPS in a…

Re NZWINEIMPORTS Pty Ltd and FCT – AAT rules that WET and GST liability of wine importer to be recalculated

The AAT has found that the Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) and the related GST liability of an Australian importer of New Zealand wine was to be recalculated on the basis that the Commissioner had adopted the wrong methodology in calculating the taxpayer’s WET liability in the circumstances. In arriving at its decision, the AAT essentially found that the taxpayer’s approach…