CORPORATIONS – TAXATION – AUSTRALIA

Business gets two-year tax cut amnesty

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 19-Oct-17

The Federal Government has introduced legislation to clarify whether a company qualifies for the 27.5 per cent tax rate for small businesses. It hopes to end the uncertainty regarding the application of the lower tax rate to passive investment companies. The amendments introduced on 18 October state that a company will not qualify for the lower tax rate if it derives more than 80 per cent of its income from passive sources, which include interest and dividends. The new test for a passive investment company will apply from the start of the current financial year.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, BDO CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS AND ADVISERS, CPA AUSTRALIA

ATO chases $2.5bn corporate shortfall

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Original article by Ben Butler
The Australian – Page: 19 : 11-Oct-17

The Australian Taxation Office estimates that the corporate "tax gap" averaged 5.8 per cent between 2008-09 and 2014-15. The ATO hopes to reduce corporate tax underpayments to about $A2.5bn, and deputy commissioner Jeremy Hirschhorn notes that transfer pricing is a significant contributor to the tax gap. He notes that a number of measures have been implemented in recent years to ensure that companies meet their tax liabilities, including the diverted profits tax and the Multinational Anti-Avoidance Law.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, CHEVRON CORPORATION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Trump tax cut exposes local business

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 29-Sep-17

Business leaders have warned that the tax plan of US President Donald Trump highlights the need for tax reform to ensure that Australia remains internationally competitive. However, the Opposition has reiterated that it will not support the Federal Government’s proposal to progressively reduce the tax rate for all companies to 25 per cent, despite Trump’s plans to reduce the US company tax rate to just 20 per cent. Treasurer Scott Morrison says Australia will not be able to compete with nations such as the US and the UK unless Labor supports the tax package.

CORPORATES
UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, NICK XENOPHON TEAM

Tax cuts won’t go to ‘bucket’ companies

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 19-Sep-17

Financial Services Minister Kelly O’Dwyer has confirmed that passive investment companies will not benefit from the reduced company tax rate of 27.5 per cent. The reduced rate applies to firms with turnover below $A50 million, but entities which generate more than 80 per cent of their income from passive assets such as share dividends will not qualify. Tax experts note that there will be both "winners and losers" from her decision, which comes after months of uncertainty over what types of companies would benefit from the tax cut.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS LIMITED

Rio Tinto pushes for GST shake-up

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Original article by James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 7-Sep-17

Rio Tinto CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques says the distribution of goods and services tax revenue is "unfair and counter-productive", and action is needed to ensure that Western Australia receives an equitable share of the revenue. Jacques has also used a Mining Week event to call for changes to the nation’s corporate tax regime, arguing that Australia now boasts the sixth-highest company tax rate among OECD nations, while he has called for a national approach to energy policy.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Tax war moves to smaller companies

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Original article by Nick Tabakoff
The Australian – Page: 4 : 24-Aug-17

The Australian Government will require up to 6,000 listed and private companies to disclose any "contestable" tax treatments in their financial accounts from fiscal 2019. The new disclosure rules, which were released by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, have prompted criticism from tax experts. Paul Drum of CPA Australia says it is the Government’s latest crackdown in a "tax war" on the business sector, adding that the new rules will apply to both small and large companies

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, CPA AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD, BDO CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS AND ADVISERS

ATO hails tech giants’ $7b sales surge

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Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 23-Aug-17

Executives from technology companies such as Apple and Google appeared before an inquiry into corporate tax avoidance on 22 August. Apple Australia MD Tony King told the Senate committee that the company has not been penalised following the completion of a five-year audit by the Australian Taxation Office, while IBM, Facebook and Google advised that they are still being audited. Meanwhile, Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan hailed the success of the ATO’s crackdown on tax avoidance by multinationals, noting that it issued $A4bn worth of tax assessments in 2016-17.

CORPORATES
APPLE PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, IBM AUSTRALIA LIMITED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, MICROSOFT AUSTRALIA

Tax blitz hits top 1000 firms

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Original article by Nick Tabakoff
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 22-Aug-17

The Australian Taxation Office wants all companies with turnover of more than $A250 million to disclose their "reportable tax positions", starting from the 2017-18 financial year. The move has been questioned by BDO senior tax partner Tony Sloan, who says it represents a significant reversal of the ATO’s self-assessment regime. He says the ATO appears to be of the view that its reportable tax position policy worked well with Australia’s biggest companies, and so it has decided to lower the reporting threshold.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, BDO AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Shorten ‘lie’ on growth exposed

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 1-Aug-17

Business Council of Australia CEO Jennifer Westacott has criticised Opposition Leader Bill Shorten for claiming that reducing the company tax rate will adversely affect economic growth. She notes that Shorten has previously argued that a lower company tax rate would boost productivity and investment, resulting in higher economic growth and wages. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has criticised Shorten’s proposal to tax the distributions of discretionary trusts, which are used by some small and family businesses.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION

Plea to revive growth economy

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Original article by Laura Tingle
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 10 : 27-Jul-17

Members of the Business Council of Australia’s board have called for the corporate tax rate to be reduced in order to lift the nation’s economic growth rate to at least three per cent. They argue that the economy needs to expand at such a rate to increase wages and create jobs. BCA president Grant King adds that regulatory and industrial relations reform is necessary to encourage jobs growth, particularly given the impact of digital disruption on the labour market.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY