On 7 December 2015, the Government announced a package of measures designed to incentivise and reward innovation as part of its National Innovation and Science Agenda. One of those measures will allow taxpayers the choice to either self‑assess the effective life of certain intangible depreciating assets or use the statutory effective life. The current law only provides an effective life set by statute.
On Friday 1.4.2016, Treasury released, for comment, draft legislation which proposes to implement the proposal. The changes are proposed to apply to intangible depreciating assets, listed in the table in subs 40-95(7) of the ITAA 1997, that an entity starts to hold on or after 1 July 2016. That is, the current law continues to apply to these intangible depreciating assets that an entity holds before 1 July 2016.