Greig v Commissioner of Taxation [2018] FCA 1084 (Greig) reiterates the uncertainty in respect of the revenue and capital dichotomy and draws on well-known case law principles.

Taxation of cryptocurrency continues to gain substantial attention in the media. Our thoughts on the implications of having a commercial nature when acquiring and selling cryptocurrency and the general uncertainty around taxation of cryptocurrency were recently shared in Forbes.

The application of the small business capital gains tax (CGT) concessions in Division 152 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (CGT Concessions) is an area of interest for the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

The Federal Commissioner of Taxation  (Commissioner) recently updated his guidelines on cryptocurrency and for the first time addressed the taxation of cryptocurrency acquired as the result of a chain split.  

Australia is obligated under Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) regimes to automatically exchange financial account information with foreign jurisdictions.

The Federal Government has announced further measures to assist in curbing illegal phoenix activity as part of the release of the 2018 Budget on 8 May 2018.

On 8 February 2018, the Government released for public consultation exposure draft legislation to implement the announcement in the 2017 Budget regarding integrity improvements to the small business capital gains tax (CGT) concessions.

The Federal Government has released draft versions of legislation and regulations to strengthen consumer protection laws.  The changes would give effect to proposals contained in the 2017 Australian Consumer Law (ACL) Review Final Report agreed to by Commonwealth, State and Territory Consumer Affairs Ministers last year.  The public has until the end of February to submit views on the draft changes. 

In the space of a fortnight, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has commenced two sets of proceedings in the Federal Court against large Australian businesses, claiming breaches of the unfair contract provisions applicable to standard form small business contracts contained in the Australian Consumer Law.

The Corporations Amendment (Crowd-sourced Funding for Proprietary Companies) Bill 2017 was introduced into Parliament on 14 September 2017.  If passed, as is expected, the Bill will extend the reach of the Crowd-sourced Equity Funding (CSEF) legislation that will at this stage apply only to public companies from 29 September 2017.

Businesses exporting products around the world can now apply for the Export Market Development Grant (EMDG). Applications can be completed and submitted online up until 30 November 2017.

The Federal Government has this week announced a number of proposed reforms aimed at those individuals, entities and advisors who undertake or facilitate illegal phoenix activity.

Further to our Sladen Snippet, we are reminding and encouraging businesses with interests in producing and selling wine (and who rely on the WET Rebate) to ensure they have properly secured trade mark registration.

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Enterprise Tax Plan) Bill 2016 was recently passed by the Senate containing amendments to progressively reduce the corporate tax rate and increase the small business turnover thresholds for access to small business tax concessions. 

In the digital age, brands are increasingly making use of innovative marketing and advertising such as native or integrated advertising, social media accounts, bloggers and Instagram influencers. These strategies have been shown to increase audience engagement and brand awareness, and are an effective use of a marketing budget. 

The Federal Court of Australia denied the application of the CGT small business concession on the basis that an unusual activity carried on by an associated entity to the taxpayer contributed to the aggregated annual turnover of that entity to be more than $2,000,000.

On 06 December 2016, the Commissioner of Taxation issued the Discussion Paper TDP 2016/1 on issues concerning electronic distribution platforms (EDPs). The discussion paper seeks feedback in relation to the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) rules for digital suppliers and services affecting EDPs from 1 July 2017.

In light of the 2016-17 Federal Budget handed down earlier this year, followed by consultation with participants in the wine industry, the Turnbull Government has announced on 02 December 2016 reforms to the WET Rebate. The purpose of these reforms, as stated by Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Small Business, Kelly O’Dwyer is to address “distortions in the market through the misuse and exploitation of the WET Rebate scheme”.

The ATO has recently updated its Decision Impact Statement on FCT v AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd 2010 ATC 20-224 to include amendments made in September 2016. 

On 10 October 2016, the Federal Government released an Exposure Draft to implement changes to the debt and equity tax rules in Division 974 of Income Tax Assessment Act 1997. The Exposure Draft is intended to effect recommendations made by the Board of Taxation in its April 2015 report Review of the Debt and Equity Tax Rules.