Posts by Luke Star
Small business roll-over Bill introduced
A Bill proposing a new roll-over for small business restructures has been introduced into parliament. The Tax Laws Amendment (Small Business Restructure Roll-over) Bill 2016 introduces a roll-over to make it easier for small business owners to restructure by allowing them to defer gains or losses that would otherwise be made from transferring business assets…
Read MoreATO encouraging the use of MyGov to consolidate lost super accounts
The ATO is currently sending emails to people they are currently holding lost super for. To assist affected individuals, the ATO provides information on how people can track their lost super accounts through their MyGov account and how take action on those accounts. The ATO is currently sending emails to people they are currently holding…
Read MoreATO foreign investment guide
The ATO announced that it has released a guide to assist foreign investors and their representatives understand recent changes to purchasing Australian property. The government made changes to Australia’s foreign investment policy for residential real estate with effect from 1 December 2015. The ATO announced that it has released a guide to assist foreign investors…
Read MoreTrust compliance with anti-avoidance rules
The ATO has advised that it is reviewing selected trusts’ compliance with anti-avoidance rules under s 100AA and 100AB of ITAA 1936. These anti-avoidance rules are designed to prevent trustees using tax-exempt entities to shelter the trust’s net income. The ATO is considering situations where a tax-exempt entity is entitled to income of the trust…
Read MoreTax incentives in National Innovation and Science Agenda
The government has announced a number of tax incentives as part of its National Innovation and Science Agenda to encourage innovation, risk taking and to build an entrepreneurial culture in Australia. The incentives are: concessional tax treatment for early stage investors in innovative start-ups including a 20 per cent non-refundable tax offset capped at $200,000…
Read MoreUnlawfully providing advice to clients to purchase investment properties through SMSFs
The Supreme Court of NSW has handed down final orders further to the judgment delivered against Park Trent Properties Group Pty Ltd on 15 October 2015. The court made the following orders against Park Trent: declarations that Park Trent had unlawfully carried on an unlicensed financial services business for over 5 years by providing advice…
Read MoreMisusing partnerships with private company partners
The ATO has released Taxpayer Alert TA 2015/4 to warn taxpayers against accessing business profits through an interposed partnership with a private company partner. The ATO is reviewing arrangements where profits are claimed to be directed through a purported partnership that has a private company as a partner. Most of the profits are taxed to…
Read MoreReduced penalty period for foreign investors ends 30 November 2015
The ATO has issued a reminder that foreign investors in residential real estate have until Monday 30 November to disclose possible breaches of Australia’s foreign investment rules and take advantage of the reduced penalty period. The ATO has also released a video explaining the changes being made to Australia’s foreign investment rules.
Read MoreData matching program: Visa information
The ATO will request from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection to provide the names, addresses and other details of visa holders, their sponsors and migration agents for the 2013-14 to 2016-17 financial years. Records obtained will be electronically matched by the ATO with certain sections of their data holdings to identify non-compliance with…
Read MoreRecent activity by the ATO in relation to privately owned and wealthy groups
Since the April 2015 release of the Reinventing the ATO blueprint (PDF), the ATO states it has: given certainty to over 30,000 low risk privately owned and wealthy groups with reassurance their income tax affairs for previous years will not be subject to further reviews provided transparency with over 2100 income tax risk reports where…
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