Latest news
March 10, 2017
Intangible capital improvements made to a pre-CGT asset
On 25 January 2017, the ATO issued Taxation Determination TD 2017/1. It provides that for the purposes of the “separate asset” rules in the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, intangible capital improvements can be considered a separate CGT asset from the pre-CGT asset to which those improvements are made, if the relevant thresholds are satisfied….
January 18, 2017
Contrived trust arrangements in ATO sights
The ATO has cautioned taxpayers against arrangements that seek to minimise tax by creating artificial differences between the taxable net income and distributable income of closely held trusts. Deputy Commissioner Michael Cranston said the ATO is investigating arrangements where trustees are engineering a reduction in trust income to allow taxpayers to improperly gain favourable tax…
November 4, 2016
SMSF ‘Related Party’ Borrowing Arrangements
The ATO has issued a taxation determination (TD 2016/16) concerning whether the ordinary or statutory income of a self-managed super fund (SMSF) would be non-arm’s length income (NALI) under the tax law, and therefore attract 47% tax, when the parties to a scheme have entered into a limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA) on terms which…
October 28, 2016
Budget Superannuation Changes on the Way
The Federal Government has been consulting on draft legislation to give effect to most of its 2016–2017 budget superannuation proposals. Here are some of the key changes. Deducting personal contributions All individuals up to age 75 will be able to deduct personal superannuation contributions, regardless of their employment circumstances. Of course, such deductible contributions would…
October 10, 2016
Small business tax breaks in the pipeline
A Bill has been introduced in Parliament which proposes to: increase the small business entity turnover to $10 million from 1 July 2016; increase the unincorporated small business tax discount from 5% to 16% over a 10-year period; increase the turnover threshold to qualify for the lower company tax rate; and lower the company tax rate…
October 10, 2016
Deductibility for gifts to clients and airport lounge membership fees
The ATO has recently issued the following two Taxation Determinations. They apply for income years commencing both before and after their date of issue. Deductibility of gifts to clients Taxation Determination TD 2016/14 states that a taxpayer that carries on a business is entitled to a deduction under s 8-1 of ITAA 1997 for an…
September 12, 2016
Property developer entitled to capital gain tax concession
A taxpayer has been successful before the AAT in arguing that a commercial property it acquired and developed and later sold for a profit of some $40 million had been acquired as a capital asset to generate rental income, and not for the purpose of resale at a profit – despite the fact that the AAT…
