In Watson as trustee for the Murrindindi Bushfire Class Active Settlement Fund v Commissioner of Taxation [2019] FCA 228 (Watson), the Federal Court ruled that an investment trust established to hold funds received as compensation for victims of the black Saturday bush fires could not deduct administrative expenses associated with the trust’s operation.  

The Federal Commissioner of Taxation (Commissioner) has issued Taxation Ruling TR 2019/1 (Ruling) which addresses when a company carries on a business within the meaning of:

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) has determined that land, used to store tools and materials for the purposes of operating a business, constituted an “active asset” for the purposes of the small business capital gains tax (CGT) concessions.

In a recent case of Nifuno Pty Ltd atf Stephen Forbes Pension Fund v Chief Commissioner of State Revenue [2019] NSWCATOD 3, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) considered the application of an available duty concession for the transfer of property in connection with persons changing superannuation funds, including self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs).

Thousands of businesses across regional Victoria have already taken advantage of the Victorian Government’s regional payroll tax cuts, which have saved businesses more than $31 million in the first financial year it was introduced.

On 20 September 2017, the Senate passed the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2018 (the Bill).

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) has denied a taxpayer a capital gains tax (CGT) discount on a gain on the disposal of shares she acquired as part of an employee share scheme (ESS).

A taxpayer has been found liable for a tax bill of $106,058 in relation to shares they acquired as part of an employee share scheme (ESS) with their previous employer, NewSat Limited, a now insolvent company with a share value of nil. 

On 15 August 2018, the Australian Tax Office (ATO) updated Practical Compliance Guideline (PCG) 2017/13 to extend its application to Division 7A sub-trust arrangements adopted in accordance with Practice Statement Law Administration 2010/4 (PS LA 2010/4) that mature in the 2019 income year.

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.