MONDAY
No change to amount of Private Health Insurance rebate
The Government has advised that there will be no changes to the Australian Government Private Health Insurance (PHI) Rebate. This follows the release of the annual indexed figures for the Rebate Adjustment Factor (RAF) – which represents the difference between the CPI and the industry weighted average increase in premiums release.
Radiocommunications taxes collection regulations made
The Radiocommunications Taxes Collection Regulations 2023 (the Regulations) has been made. It will remake and update the Radiocommunications Taxes Collection Regulations 1985 that are scheduled to be repealed as a result of the sunsetting provisions. Among other things, the Regulation updates provisions that address organisation titles, cancelled licence tax refunds and the refund of tax paid annually.
ATO: information on Corporate Collective Investment Vehicles
The ATO has released information on how to register and meet lodgment and reporting obligations for Corporate Collective Investment Vehicles (CCIVs). The information deals with the following matters: What is a CCIV; the CCIV tax framework; attribution CCIV sub-fund trust eligibility requirements; failure to meet AMIT eligibility criteria; registering to operate a CCIV; lodgment and reporting obligations; investor information; GST liability under the CCIV tax framework; and CCIV consultation.
TUESDAY
ATO: 2023 FBT time
The ATO has reminded employers that if they have provided fringe benefits to employees or their associates between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023, it’s now time to lodge and pay their 2023 fringe benefits tax (FBT) returns. The ATO also emphasised that employers will need to pay any outstanding liability by 22 May to avoid interest and penalties (and that if they are lodging electronically via a tax practitioner, the due date to lodge and pay is 26 June). In addition, the ATO said that if it is an employer’s first time lodging with a tax practitioner, they will need to contact them before 21 May. Finally, the ATO stated that while it’s important to lodge and pay on time, it understands that there may be circumstances where an employer can’t do so – in which case the ATO advises the employer to contact us, or speak with a tax practitioner, as early as possible.
ATO: Tips for good record keeping
The ATO has released 4 tips for good record keeping. Apart from noting that “good record keeping” helps a taxpayer manage their business and cash flow, the ATO also emphasises that it is vital for getting “the right outcome” with your tax return. Accordingly it offers the following “top 4 tips”: Always keep detailed records of payments to contractors providing TPRS services so it’s easier to prepare and lodge a TPAR by 28 August; make sure vehicle logbook records are no more than 5 years old; check if government grants or payments made to your business are taxable and need to be reported as part of business income when you lodge your return (and this includes payments from the NDIS or Childcare Subsidy payments); and, record the amounts withheld from any payments made to your business and keep written evidence from the payer, including their details and ABN.
WEDNESDAY
Lawyer jailed for 12 years for tax fraud
The ATO has reported that five people have now been found guilty in the Supreme Court of NSW for their roles in a syndicate alleged to have conducted a $105m tax fraud over 3 years which came in the wake of arrests following “Operation Elbrus” conducted by the ATO and the Australian Federal Police (AFP). The ATO said that a Sydney lawyer was sentenced to 12 years jail in June 2022 for his role in knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime, being amounts blackmailed from offenders participating in a syndicate that defrauded the Commonwealth of more than $105m in unpaid tax. The lawyer was found guilty of dealing in proceeds of crime. He received a non-parole period of 7 years and 6 months. Assets in a trust account controlled by the lawyer were also restrained.
Vic: Updated information on windfall gains tax
The Victorian State Revenue Office (SRO) has updated its information about the windfall gains tax, including answers to frequently asked questions. The Victorian SRO also advise that the windfall gains tax provisions allow the Government to prescribe deductions that can reduce the taxable value uplift, but that at this stage the Government has decided not to prescribe any allowable deductions.
ATO: Super processing schedule
The ATO has released details of its superannuation remittance and recovery processing schedule for SuperStream for March 2023 and April 2023.
THURSDAY
Tax law Bill introduced – miscellaneous amendments
The Treasury Laws Amendment (Refining and Improving our Tax System) Bill 2023 was introduced into Parliament on Wed 22 March 2023. The proposed measures contained in the Bill will:
- Amend the International Tax Agreements Act 1953 to give force of law to the Icelandic Convention (as part of Australia’s domestic procedure for implementing its tax treaties). Date of effect: The amendments commence on the day after Royal Assent, noting that the Convention itself must first enter into force before it can take effect (and for entry into force, Australia and Iceland must exchange instruments of ratification on the completion of their domestic implementation procedures).
- Extend the income tax treatment that applies to the Future Fund Board to its 100% subsidiaries incorporated in Australia (ie the amendments exempt these subsidiaries from income tax and include them as entities eligible for a refund of a tax offset relating to a franked distribution). Date of effect: The amendments apply to assessments for the first income year commencing on or after Royal Assent, and later income years.
- Transfer administration of Environmental Organisation Deductible Gift Recipients (DGRs), Harm Prevention Charity DGRs, Cultural Organisation DGRs, and Overseas Aid DGRs to the Commissioner of Taxation (who administers all other categories of DGR). Date of effect: The measures will apply six months after Royal Assent to facilitate the machinery of government changes necessary to administer the changes.
- Amend the Excise Act 1901 and Customs Act 1901 so that an eligible business entity liable for excise duty for excisable goods or customs duty for excise-equivalent goods, being fuel and alcohol, can align their excise returns and customs returns with the return period for other indirect taxes which are separately lodged through a business activity statement. Date of effect: The measures have effect from, 1 July 2023.
- Amends the Excise Act 1901 so that repackaging of beer that would otherwise be excise manufacture is not taken to be the manufacture of beer if it meets certain requirements. The beer must be repackaged into a container with a capacity of no more than 2 litres which is not pressurised (such as containers commonly known as growlers), and the repackaging must occur immediately before the retail sale of the repackaged beer. In addition, only the repackaging of the first 10,000 litres of beer at particular premises in a financial year is taken not to be the manufacture of beer – so that the requirement for a person to hold a manufacturer licence or pay excise duty where beer is repackaged in this particular manner is effectively removed. Date of effect: The measures commences on 1 July 2023 and applies in relation to beer that is repackaged on or after commencement.
Addendum to GST Ruling re treatment of financial supplies
The ATO has released an addendum to GSTR 2002/2 (Goods and services tax: GST treatment of financial supplies and related supplies and acquisitions). It amends GSTR 2002/2 to reflect changes in the GST law (for instance, changes to the GST legislation applicable to cross-border supplies, and in relation to digital currency), includes new references to public guidance released relating to financial supplies, and contains some changes to modernise parts of the Ruling. The update also contains a new buy-now pay-later example, that applies the ATO’s longstanding view on interest-free loans and contains a number of updates to Schedule 2 of the Ruling to indicate when certain foreign currency denominated products and overseas payment products are GST-free.
Updated draft GST Ruling re ATM service fees, credit card surcharges etc
The ATO has released updated draft GSTR 2014/2DC1 (Goods and services tax: treatment of ATM service fees, credit card surcharges and debit card surcharges). This draft update provides proposed miscellaneous minor revisions to GSTR 2014/2. It includes updates to documents and rules referred to in the Ruling, to reflect changes to the industry self-regulatory documents containing the definition of ‘ATM’ or ‘ATM Terminal’ (the replacement of the Consumer Electronic Clearing System Regulations and Manual with the Issuers and Acquirers Community Regulations and Code Set), changes in Reserve Bank of Australia rules for merchant surcharging, and the Reserve Bank of Australia designation of prepaid cards.
FBT: Class ruling re programme for calculating car parking benefits
The ATO has released Class Ruling CR 2023/14 (Logbook Me Pty Ltd – LogbookMe In-Car Logbook Solution for calculating car parking benefits). It sets out the FBT consequences for employers who use the LogbookMe In-Car Logbook Solution (LogbookMe Solution) to calculate the total number of car parking benefits provided during a fringe benefits tax year.
FRIDAY
Trustee company not entitled to R&D offsets
The Full Federal Court has unanimously confirmed that a company was not entitled to R&D tax offsets as the relevant expenditure it incurred was incurred in its capacity as a trustee of a trust and not as an “R&D entity” in its own right as required under s 355-205 of the ITAA 1997. In particular, the Court found that the relevant legislation required that references to an “entity that is a body corporate” was to be read as applying singularly to the body corporate acting in its own right and not to another entity ie a body corporate acting as trustee. (Sunlite Australia Pty Ltd v FCT [2023] FCAFC 43, 21 March 2023).
GST Determinations: circumstances where tax invoice not required
The following GST-related Determinations have been made: the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax): Waiver of Tax Invoice Requirement (Acquisitions Where Total Consideration Not Known) Determination 2023, the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax): Waiver of Tax Invoice Requirement (Acquisitions from or by a Partnership) Determination 2023 and the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax): Waiver of Tax Invoice Requirement (Offer Documents and Renewal Notices) Determination 2023. They waive the requirements under the GST Act 1999 to hold a tax invoice before an input tax credit can be claimed in the particular circumstances to which the Determinations relate where stated conditions are met.
ATO area of focus: CGT and corporate restructures
The ATO website contains information on “corporate restructures involving acquisitions and disposals are a priority focus” for it. In the area of CGT, these key focus areas include: correctly classifying the proceeds of an asset sale as revenue or capital; steps within corporate restructures that may result in reduction, deferral or elimination of a capital gain; rollovers, exemptions or concessions used to reduce or defer any capital gains; use of convertible notes; material differences between the economic and tax outcomes; valuations used to calculate a capital gain or capital loss; exiting an entity from a tax consolidated group or deconsolidating a tax consolidated group; disposal of taxable Australian property by non-resident organisations, including real estate; mining rights; and, interests in an Australian entity that owns real estate and mining rights in Australia.
