Taxpayer assessable on dividend: company still in existence
The AAT has ruled that the taxpayer was assessable on a franked dividend of $40,000 paid to him from his wholly owned company. The taxpayer argued that a decision by Centrelink in March 2016 to “attribute” the value of the company’s assets to him for Austudy benefit purposes, meant that the assets of the company became his personal property and that, in accordance with the separate entity principle, the company “ceased to exist” in March 2016. However, the AAT held that the company remained in existence in the 2016 income year as a company only ceases to exist when it is deregistered (and this did not occur until the 2019 income year). The AAT also noted that the effect of the Centrelink order was merely to deem an amount equal to the value of the assets of the company to the taxpayer for the purpose of the relevant “assets” test. (Aukram and FCT [2022] AATA 4691, 23 December 2022.)
CPI for December 2022 quarter
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) number for the December 2022 quarter. It is 130.8. (Note that, among other things, the CPI number is used for indexation in a range of taxation matters, including the luxury car limit, the CGT improvement threshold, the several dependant tax offsets).
ACNC: Guide to assist for 2022 Annual Information Statement
The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) has released a guide to assist in the process of completing a charity’s “2022 Annual Information Statement”. The ACNC also recommended that reference be made to its 2022 Annual Information Statement Checklist for the purposes of completing the Annual Information Statement.
