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.

A recent ATO post on its social media channels may signal the Commissioner of Taxation’s focus on the GST obligations of taxpayers involved in the development of property for sale at a profit and whether they are required to register for GST. 

In an every day more globalised world, trade, technology and the ease in which individuals move around the globe have created considerable opportunities for Australian individuals and foreigners who have decided to establish themselves in Australia.

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).

On 9 July 2018, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) recently released the Draft Property and Construction Website Guidance (the Guidelines) providing guidance in relation to the ATO position on property development and whether relevant property is held by the taxpayer on capital or revenue account.

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.  

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) recently released Taxation Determination TD 2018/13 (TD 2018/13) confirming its view that the (often overlooked) interposed entity provisions in section 109T of Division 7A of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 can apply to ordinary commercial transactions.

The rules for the taxation of trusts are complex and in need of reform. A point that has been made many times since Hill J observed in Davis v FCT1 that “the scheme of Division 6 calls out for legislative clarification, especially since the insertion into the Act of provisions taxing capital gains as assessable income”.

The changes to the Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) rebate eligibility criteria and cap reduction started applying from 1 July 2018.

On 11 July 2018, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) released Draft Taxation Determination TD 2018/D3 (TD 2018/D3) that contains the ATO’s “preliminary view” on the long-debated issue of trust splitting.

The decentralized nature of cryptocurrency has historically led many to believe transactions in the space were outside the scope of government involvement.

As reported in our earlier article on Harding v FCT [2018] FCA 837, the Federal Court ruled that the taxpayer who lived and worked in Bahrain was an Australian tax resident.

On 9 May 2018 we reported to you new initiatives regarding proposed laws targeting illegal phoenix activity (https://sladen.com.au/news/2018/5/9/sladen-snippet-proposed-laws-targeting-illegal-phoenix-activity) announced by the Federal Government in the 2018/2019 Budget.  Consistent with the proposed measures announced under the budget, the Federal Government has now:

GST withholding on taxable supplies of certain new residential premises or potential residential land is now in effect and applies to contracts entered into on or after 1 July 2018 (or contracts before that date where the first consideration other than the deposit is paid on or after 1 July 2020).

Foreign companies that may be controlled by an Australian entity should review their key decision-making procedures following the newly issued Australian Taxation Office (ATO) Taxation Ruling, TR 2018/5 (TR 2018/5) which gives guidance on when the ATO could find a foreign company’s central management and control (CMC) is located in Australia.

For the purpose of this article “cryptocurrency” refers to all digital currency assets including, but not limited to, Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins including Bitcoin Cash (BTH), Ripple (XRP), NEM, Ethereum (ETH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Litecoin (LTC), Dash (DASH), Monero (XMR) and Z Cash (ZEC).

On 9 July 2018, in a Media Release, the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, the Hon Kelly O’Dwyer MP, announced the release of the self-initiated Board of Taxation report, dated August 2017, on a new tax residency model for individuals.  Minister O’Dwyer requested further analysis and consideration on the key recommendations before the Government takes a position on this matter. 

On 15 May 2018, the Long Service Leave Act 2018 (Vic) (Act) received Royal Assent by the Victorian Parliament. The Act will apply to all employees in Victoria, unless they are explicitly excluded.

The ATO are giving a second chance to certain taxpayers who are generally compliant with their tax obligations but may have made an inadvertent error or taken a tax position which is not reasonably arguable.

The Federal Commissioner of Taxation  (Commissioner) recently updated his guidelines on cryptocurrency addressing some of the many questions that have been raised. However, these guidelines offer little assistance for early adopters of cryptocurrency who find themselves in a unique position.