O75 Public Administration

Top rate to swamp 1.2m taxpayers

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 6-Jul-17

Analysis of data from the Parliamentary Budget Office suggests that 7.3 per cent of Australians – or nearly 1.2 million people – will be paying the highest marginal tax rate in 2028, compared with just three per cent in 2015. The PBO data also shows that the Federal Government’s total income tax revenue will rise from about $A177bn in 2016 to $A378bn in 2028. The projections are based on expectations that Australia’s population will rise to 29.1 million over the next decade.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE, THE CENTRE FOR INDEPENDENT STUDIES LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Scurry to plug tax loophole for the wealthy

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Original article by Nick Tabakoff
The Australian – Page: 2 : 5-Jul-17

Financial Services Minister Kelly O’Dwyer has advised the Australian Taxation Office that the Federal Government’s tax cuts for small businesses were not meant to apply to passive family investment companies. BDO’s Tony Sloan argues that the ATO is merely applying the existing tax cuts legislation, which he says is sufficiently broad to include family investment vehicles. Sloan adds that the Government may have to amend the legislation in order to ensure that such investment vehicles cannot claim tax refunds and deductions.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, BDO CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS AND ADVISERS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rises across the board – up 2.7pts to 114.5

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 5-Jul-17

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rose 2.4% to 114.5 in the week ended 2 July 2017, bringing the index to its highest point since early April and above the long-run average. The rise in confidence was broad-based, with all sub-indices posting gains. The volatility in households’ views around current financial conditions continues, with the sub index rising 3.8%. Consumers were less optimistic about future financial conditions. This sub index rose 0.8% last week, only partially offsetting the 1.7% decline in the previous week. Confidence around both current and future economic conditions rose solidly (+3.7% and +3.0% respectively). The current economic conditions sub index now sits at its highest point since mid-March.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Business Confidence down in June to 111.8 driven by declines in the Retail and Electricity industries

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 5-Jul-17

Business Confidence in Australia fell 2pts (-1.8%) to 111.8 in June, according to the Roy Morgan Business Single Source survey. Business Confidence declined on the back of falling expectations of the Australian economy, with fewer businesses expecting "good times" for the economy in both the short-term and the long-term. Some 46.9% (down 6.3ppts) of businesses expect "good times" for the economy over the next year and 49.6% (down 0.9ppts) expect "good times" for the economy over the next five years. Meanwhile, 46% (up 5.2ppts) of businesses expect "bad times" for the economy over the next year and 42.5% (up 2.4ppts) expect "bad times" for the economy over the next five years. Roy Morgan Research CEO Michele Levine says the back-to-back declines for Business Confidence over the past two months has seen Business Confidence dip below the ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rating for the first time since early March.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Coles ends bargaining over weekend rates

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 5-Jul-17

Grocery retailer Coles has opened negotiations with unions for a new two-year enterprise bargaining agreement. Coles has indicated that the new EBA will be based on the minimum employment conditions in the relevant industrial award. The Fair Work Commission terminated the existing EBA in 2016, as it included lower weekend penalty rates in return for higher base pay rates. Coles has advised that all employees will be paid at least the award rate at all times under the new EBA.

CORPORATES
COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION, THE AUSTRALASIAN MEAT INDUSTRY EMPLOYEES’ UNION, RETAIL AND FAST FOOD WORKERS’ UNION, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TARGET AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED

ATO signals tax windfall for wealthy

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Original article by Nick Tabakoff
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 4-Jul-17

A draft tax ruling issued by the Australian Taxation Office in March 2017 could allow "passive" family investment companies to claim tax refunds and deductions. The draft ruling overturned the generally-accepted view that such family investment companies – which do not actively carry on a business – would not be eligible for the reduction in the company tax rate for small businesses from 30 per cent to 27.5 per cent over recent years. Tony Sloan of BDO says the draft ruling would affect many of the firm’s clients, as most would have filed tax returns for 2016 at the full tax rate of 30 per cent.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, BDO CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS AND ADVISERS, NATIONAL TAX LIAISON GROUP

Household debt hits all-time high

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 4-Jul-17

Australia’s household debt-to-income ratio rose to a new high of 190.4 per cent in the March 2017 quarter. Treasurer Scott Morrison has indicated that rising household debt was a key factor for the Federal Government in backing new regulatory measures aimed at curbing interest-only loans for property investors. He has warned of the economic impact if the nation’s residential property market experienced a "hard landing". He adds that the Opposition’s proposed negative gearing reforms would have heightened the risk of a hard landing.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Labor bracing for backlash over $40m timber buyout

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Original article by Samantha Hutchinson
The Australian – Page: 7 : 4-Jul-17

The Victorian Government has entered into an agreement to acquire a majority stake in the Heyfield timber mill in the Latrobe Valley. The mill has been under threat of closure, with the potential loss of 250 jobs, due to insufficient supply of timber from state-owned forests. Agriculture and Regional Development Minister Jaala Pulford said the Hermal Group, the mill’s parent company, had agreed that there will be no loss of jobs while the sale process is being finalised. The Government is understood to have paid between $A38 million and $A42 million to conclude the deal.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. DEPT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, JOBS, TRANSPORT AND RESOURCES, HERMAL GROUP, AUSTRALIAN SUSTAINABLE HARDWOODS, PITCHER PARTNERS CORPORATE ADVISORY PTY LTD, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Rhiannon ‘disappointed’ in leader Di Natale

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 3-Jul-17

Australian Greens senator Lee Rhiannon says she wants to see her party become more democratic. Her comments follow a move by federal colleagues to ban her from attending important party room meetings. The ban resulted from claims that Rhiannon was undermining her colleagues over the party’s approach to the Federal Government’s schools funding package. Rhiannon says the decision effectively disenfranchises all members of the Greens’ New South Wales branch, and that she is "disappointed" with Greens leader Richard Di Natale.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, THE GREENS NSW INCORPORATED

CFMEU faces bankruptcy from lawsuit

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 3-Jul-17

The Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union and several of its senior officials have been served with a writ in the Victorian Supreme Court. The writ relates to a failed apartment project on the site of Pentridge prison in Melbourne’s north, with the writ alleging that the CFMEU used illegal coercion and threats that caused delays that led to the project’s failure. The value of the writ is potentially as high as $A150 million, a sum that could bankrupt the union if the case went against it.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA, WEST HOMES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, GROCON PTY LTD, PENTRIDGE VILLAGE PTY LTD