Tax Month – May 2019

T a x  T e c h n i c a l  –  M o n t h l y  N e w s

– May 2019 Developments –

This is a collection of developments in Australian tax law and practice that occurred in May 2019, which aims to be relevant to tax practitioners.[i]

Compiled By

F John Morgan
A member of the Victorian Bar (www.FJMtax.com)

Table of Contents

______________________________________________________________________________

 

You are free to use this material, provided you include a link back to the article on this site.

Legislation

Acts etc.

• HELP repayment thresholds and rates for 2019-20 Gazetted

Announcements

• Re-elected Government’s tax policies taken to the election
• Announced but un-enacted measures (ABUMs) at the time Parliament was prorogued for the 18 May 2019 election – a short and breezy review

Cases

High Court

• Resource Capital Fund IV LP applied to High Court for leave to appeal against the Full Federal Court decision finding it liable for tax on profits made on shares in an Australian company with an Australian mine and processing plant
• Frugtneit v ASIC – AAT improperly considered ‘spent’ offences, when reviewing ASIC’s banning order (standing in ASIC’s shoes)
• BHP Billiton Limited (now named BHP Group Limited) v Commissioner of Taxation – High Court grants BHP special leave to appeal the CFC case about the definition of ‘associates’ whilst ‘dual listed’

Full Federal Court

• —

Federal Court

• —

Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT)

• Seven Network (Operations) Limited v Screen Australia – Bride and Prejudice series not a ‘documentary’ – no Australian film production tax offset

Other Courts & Tribunals

• —

Appeals

• Paule & Ors v CofT – taxpayers appeal decision that a capital gain on shares following roll-overs was not a discount capital gain
• Ransley – withdrew her appeal against a decision that her profit was not taxed as a capital gain
• Racing Queensland Board v CofT – Commissioner appeals decision setting aside SGC assessment – Board doesn’t employ jockeys

Rulings

Decision Impact statements

• —

Rulings

• —

Determinations

• —

Law Companion Rulings

• —

Class Rulings & Product Rulings

• —

ATO Interpretative Decisions

• —

Practice Statements

• —

Practical Compliance Guides

• —

Tax Alerts

• —

Other ATO news or statements

• ATO Advice under development program – May update
• ATO puts tax crime ‘case studies’ on its website – details salutary
• The ATO’s ‘Compensation for Detriment Caused by Defective Administration’ is the subject of review for the benefit of ‘small business’
• Requirement to lodge 2019 annual tax and other returns – Notices made and registered
• Mildura man sentenced to 6 months jail for $664,000 PAYG withholding (Phoenix) fraud
• The National Tax Liaison Group (NTLG) meeting on 30 November 2018 – ‘Key Messages’ document, including: ATO independent review, Digital economy, black economy, IGT on fraud control, ‘Reporting entities’ and LPP
• Legal Professional Privilege (LPP) claims – ATO ‘consulting’ on ‘full LPP review’ terms in lawyers’ retainers – lawyers push back on this …
• Tax fugitive tracked down and sentenced to 3 years and 3 months jail (ATO post)

GST 

Legislation & Announcements (GST)

• —

Cases (GST)

• —

Rulings, Etc. (GST)

• —

Superannuation

Legislation etc. (Super)

• —

Cases (Super)

• —

Other (Super)

• ISA report calls the number of employees who are underpaid super, and the extent to which they fall behind, a ‘scandal’ that must be fixed
• Newly elected Treasurer announces review of the retirement income system, including the interaction of superannuation, government pensions and, potentially, taxation

State Taxes

Legislation & Announcements (State)

• Victorian Taxation Budget Measures – more Duty, more Land Tax, less Payroll Tax & some valuations higher
• Unannounced Victorian Duty amendment makes drastic changes to the ‘economic entitlement’ provisions – affecting development agreements with owners

Cases (State)

• High Court refuses Fyna Projects Pty Ltd (and 10 other Appellants) leave to appeal joint and several payroll tax liabilities on group assessments
• High Court gives WA Commissioner of State Revenue leave to appeal Rojoda Pty Ltd case where partnership deeds were held non-dutiable

Rulings & Other (State)

• —

Other Developments

Australian Charities & Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC)

• —

Base Erosion & Profit Shifting & OECD

• OECD releases 10th edition of its publication: OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital
• EU to remove UK and Dutch overseas territories from its tax haven blacklist
• OECD deal on digital tax by 2020 and bank transaction taxes by in Q3 calendar 2019 – maybe

Board of Taxation

• —

External supervision of ATO

• —

Miscellaneous

• Rinehart & Anor v Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd & Ors – High Court gives orders on mediation and parties to the mediation (not tax, but interesting)
• PwC Australia discloses its tax contribution to the Australian economy – average rate 37%

Tax Practitioners Board

• Law Council of Australia submits that the Tax Practioners Board ought be independent of the ATO – like the IGT
• Chartered Accountants’ submission to the Independent Review of Tax Practitioners Board and TASA (includes TPB independence from ATO)
• Law Institute of Victoria’s (LIV) submission, to the independent review of the TPB – ‘unqualified legal practice’ by tax agents is concerning…
• ‘Letters of Engagement’ – Law Council’s submission to the TPB on its 10 page exposure draft of Practice Note TPB(PN) D40/2019 – where it goes too far

---

[i]           Sources – abbreviations: ‘KPMG’: KPMG Daily Tax News; ‘LCA’: Law Council of Australia; ‘LTN’: Latest Tax News (Thomson Reuters); ‘Sievers’: Chris Sievers’ GST post (www. http://chrissievers.com); ‘TBA’: Tax Bar Association Newsletter; ‘TaxVine’: The Tax Institute’s ‘TaxVine’.