Category Archives: Tax Month – September 2018

Deductibility of tax-free allowances for travel to ‘tax havens’ & notice of ‘foreign citizenship’ to the ATO, for everyone (justified by ‘citizenship for sale’ in tax havens) – to be attacked by Labor

On 21 September 2018, the Shadow Assistant Treasurer: Mr Andrew Leigh, announced that a Labor Government would clamp down on unsubstantiated allowances for travel to tax havens and target ‘passport shopping’ through measures raising more than $9 million over the forward estimates”. Travel Allowances to Tax Havens: Mr Leigh said that under Australian tax law, a company…

Moreton Resources Ltd v Innovation and Science Australia – Activities in connection with a project to develop an Underground Coal Gasification Pilot Plant were NOT sufficiently experimental to qualify as ‘R&D activities’

A resources company has failed to satisfy the AAT that various activities, in connection with a project to develop an Underground Coal Gasification Pilot Plant, were “R&D activities” and therefore, it was not entitled to the R&D tax incentive. The taxpayer was a company in the Australian resources sector. It sought to have various activities registered…

Ireland collects disputed €14.3b of Apple EU taxes ahead of appeal – after putting in place all the arrangements for the investment, custody and management of this massive sum

The European Commission spectacularly determined that Ireland had given Apple illegal ‘State aid’ almost 2 years ago (reported by Reuters on 27.9.2016). The Commission ordered Ireland to recover the enormous sum of €13.1b plus interest (now €1.2b). I covered this in the Tax Technical article appearing in the September 2016 Tax Month. Ireland, however, sided with Apple, defending the…

ATO explains its ‘AUSid’ system for overseas entities to report and pay Australian GST – a secure, computer based, desktop system

The GST Act and TAA now require even more non-residents to interact with the ATO, and it has created the ‘AUSid’ system as portal for these interactions. The ATO says AUSid is a simple and secure way for overseas limited registered entities that transact with Australia and are registered for GST to report and pay…

Labor’s plan to abolish refunds of excess franking credit tax offsets – effectively referred by the Government, to a Committee it controls, to report on the implications & consequences of this proposal

The House of Reps Standing Committee on Economics will hold an inquiry into the implications of removing refundable franking credits. Labor had proposed such a policy in an announcement in March 2018, which I covered in the following Tax Technical article. I have extracted the key aspects of this policy, below. So the inquiry clearly has the…

Treasury Laws Amendment (Black Economy Taskforce Measures No 2) Bill 2018 – new s26-105 to deny deductions for wages etc if PAYG amounts not withheld; amendments to s396-55 extend reporting obligations to contractor payments in the road freight, IT, security & investigation or surveillance industries

On 20.9.18, the Government introduced the Treasury Laws Amendment (Black Economy Taskforce Measures No 2) Bill 2018 in the House of Representatives and on 17 Oct 2018, it the Lower House and moved (the next day) to the Senate. The Bill proposes: to insert a new s26-105 into the ITAA 1997 that will deny an income tax…

Treasury Laws Amendment (2018 Measures No. 5) Bill 2018 introduced – AMIT technical changes; update the list of DGRs and add indigenous language promotion; IP licensing subject to restrictive trade practices law

On 20.9.2018, the Government introduced the Treasury Laws Amendment (2018 Measures No 5) Bill 2018 in the House of Reps It proposes the following amendments: AMIT technical amendments – would amend the TAA, ITAA 1997, ITAA 1936, and other Acts to make a number of technical refinements to the income tax law so that the new…

Treasury Laws Amendment Foreign Investors Bill 2018 introduced – Stapled structures/MIT income; thin cap changes; super funds for foreign residents; limiting sovereign immunity tax exemption

On 20.9.2018, the Government introduced the Treasury Laws Amendment (Making Sure Foreign Investors Pay Their Fair Share of Tax in Australia and Other Measures) Bill 2018 was introduced in the House of Reps. It proposes a number of changes: Non-concessional MIT income – amends the ITAA 1997, the ITAA 1936 and the TAA to improve…

Omnibus Treasury Laws Amendment Bill 2018 introduced: GST turnover includes online hotel bookings; Thin cap; R&D Tax Incentive; Significant Global Entity (SGE) definition

On 20.0.2018, the Government introduced the Treasury Laws Amendment (Making Sure Multinationals Pay Their Fair Share of Tax in Australia and Other Measures) Bill 2018 was introduced in the House of Representatives. In the Schedules noted, it proposes various amendments, including the following. Online hotel bookings and GST [Schedule 5] – amendments would require offshore suppliers of…

Tax Month – September 2018

T a x  T e c h n i c a l  –  M o n t h l y  N e w s – September 2018 Developments – This is a collection of developments in Australian tax law and practice that occurred in September 2018 which aims to be relevant to tax practitioners.[i] Compiled By F…