The Governor-General has accepted the Prime Minister’s advice to dissolve both Houses of Federal Parliament simultaneously with effect from 9am on Monday, 9 May 2016, to enable an election for both Houses to take place on Saturday, 2 July 2016. The Government is now in Caretaker Mode.
With the issue of writs on Mon 9.5.2016, for the holding of the 2016 Federal Election, all Bills that have not been passed by both Houses of Federal Parliament have lapsed. These include:
- Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2016 Measures No 2) Bill 2016 – proposes to establish a remedial power for the Commissioner to allow the Commissioner to make, by disallowable legislative instrument, one or more modifications to the operation of a taxation law to ensure the law can be administered to achieve its intended purpose or object.
- Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2015 Measures No 3) Bill 2015 – proposes to abolish the seafarer tax offset and to reduce the R&D tax offset rates by 1.5 percentage points.
- Industry Research and Development Amendment (Innovation and Science Australia) Bill 2016 – makes consequential amendments to a number of Acts in relation to broadening the purposes and functions under the Industry Research and Development Act 1986 to provide for strategic advice and programs in relation to industry, innovation, science and research.
- Tax Laws Amendment (Tougher Penalties for Country-by-Country Reporting) Bill 2016 [No 2] was introduced by Mr Leigh (ALP) as a Private Members Bill on 2 May 2016 in the House of Reps. The Bill proposes to amend the ITAA 1997 to introduce a specific penalty regime for significant global entities with country-by-country (CbC) reporting obligations. Under this proposed new regime, the maximum penalty for failure to lodge a CbC report would be $270,000 (1,500 penalty units).
- Superannuation Legislation Amendment (Choice of Fund) Bill 2016 – contains measures to enable employees under workplace determinations or enterprise agreements made from 1 July 2016 to choose their own superannuation fund.
- Superannuation Legislation Amendment (Transparency Measures) Bill 2016 – sets out disclosure rules for superannuation portfolio holdings and choice product dashboards.
- Superannuation Legislation Amendment (Trustee Governance) Bill 2015 – proposes to require trustees of registrable superannuation entity licensees to have a minimum of one-third independent directors and an independent chair on their boards, and make consequential amendments.
- Treasury Legislation Amendment (Repeal Day 2015) Bill 2016 (introduced in November 2015 as a 2015 Bill). As introduced, proposes to: (i) reduce the harshness of the superannuation guarantee charge for employers; (ii) enable the Commissioner to pay lost superannuation directly to individuals with a terminal medical condition; (iii) modify the reporting rules for companies with property in receivership; and (iv) repeal several inoperative acts in the Treasury portfolio.
[LTN 87,9/5/16]