GOODS AND SERVICES TAX (GST) – AUSTRALIA

Hockey to tax global giants

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 12-May-15

The Australian Government’s May 2015 Budget will feature spending initiatives that will cost up to $A10bn. It includes $A3.5bn for childcare and an additional $A450m for national security. Meanwhile, the Government has announced that downloading digital content from offshore providers will attract the GST, while it will crack down on international corporations that avoid their tax liabilities by shifting profits overseas. However, it has ruled out a so-called "Google Tax".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, THE TAX INSTITUTE, ARNOLD BLOCH LEIBLER, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Hockey’s $1b ‘Netflix’ tax

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 5 : 10-Apr-15

Australia’s federal and state Treasurers have struck a deal to extend the application of the GST to items costing less than $A1,000 that are bought online and sourced from offshore. This will include digital versions of books, music and films that are downloaded or streamed from offshore providers. News Corp Australia CEO Julian Clarke recently criticised foreign companies such as Netflix for failing to pay GST, arguing that it gives them an unfair advantage over local rivals in terms of pricing their products

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, APPLE INCORPORATED, MICROSOFT CORPORATION, EBAY INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL RETAILERS ASSOCIATION LIMITED

Leave GST allocation, as it is, Hockey advised

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 8-Apr-15

Australia’s federal and state Treasurers will meet in Canberra on 9 April 2015. The distribution of goods and services tax revenue will be on the agenda, with Western Australia arguing for some years that it is disadvantaged by the current distribution model. However, a Commonwealth Grants Commission report has recommended retaining the status quo

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. COMMONWEALTH GRANTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Keep tax credits, raise GST

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Original article by Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 7-Apr-15

A poll conducted among more than 560 members of the "Australian Financial Review" Business Leaders Panel suggests that Australians do not want the dividend imputation system to be abolished. They also expressed their opposition to proposals to remove tax concessions for superannuation and to reintroduce estate taxes. An increase in the goods and services tax rate is supported by 60 per cent of the panel

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Change GST before next election, pleads business

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 2 : 9-Jan-15

John Osborn of the Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry says a sweeping review of the tax system is needed, and has urged immediate action. The goods and services tax (GST) has been at the centre of recent debate on tax reform, but Peter Strong of the Council of Small Business of Australia has also called for reforms such as the reintroduction of the loss carry back scheme. The Australia Institute has suggested broadening the GST to include private health insurance and private schools

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS LIMITED, ASSOCIATION OF HEADS OF INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

A Coalition that can’t agree

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Original article by Joanna Heath, Joanna Mather, Madeleine Heffernan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 6-Jan-15

The Australian Government plans to release a white paper examining potential changes to the goods and services tax. However, the Western Australian Government remains opposed to GST reform unless there are changes to the methodology for distributing revenue from the tax to the states. A number of federal WA MPs are also in favour of GST reform, while KPMG chairman Peter Nash expects tax reform to be a key issue of debate in 2015

CORPORATES
KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. COMMONWEALTH GRANTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE

Retailers slam new Aust Post US service

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 17 : 15-Dec-14

Australia Post has launched its new ShopMate service, which allows consumers to order goods from US online retailers that ship only to domestic addresses. The parcels are being sent to a warehouse in the US and then forwarded to Australia. The move has been sharply criticised by the Australian National Retailers Association, which says it exacerbates the problem of no goods and services tax being charged for items shoppers buy over the internet from overseas. The lobby group is especially disappointed as Australia Post is a Federal Government business

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA POST, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL RETAILERS ASSOCIATION LIMITED, COLES GROUP LIMITED, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, DAVID JONES LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS HOLDINGS LIMITED, WESFARMERS BUNNINGS LIMITED, PREMIER INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX PMV, JUST GROUP LIMITED, HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, NATIONAL ONLINE RETAILERS ASSOCIATION LIMITED

Treasury: Tax stuck in the ’50s

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Original article by Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 4-Dec-14

Federal bureaucrat Dr Martin Parkinson says Australia’s tax system is outdated and is adversely affecting the nation’s international competitiveness. He argues that tax reform is essential as the tax regime has not changed significantly since the 1950s. The outgoing head of the Treasury says that reducing the personal and corporate rate rates in particular is needed. Meanwhile, business leader Tony Shepherd has called for changes to the GST

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. NATIONAL COMMISSION OF AUDIT, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD

IMF’s Lagarde backs GST rise

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 12 : 13-Nov-14

International Monetary Fund MD Christine Lagarde says the Australian Government should pursue tax reforms such as changes to the GST, but she stresses the need to ensure that the less well-off are not disadvantaged by any such reforms. Lagarde has also urged Australia to increase productivity and lift investment in the non-mining sectors of the economy. Lagarde has also praised Australia’s accomplishments during its presidency of the Group of 20

CORPORATES
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, GREAT BRITAIN. OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER

Costello warns on GST change

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 29-Oct-14

The issue of the goods and services tax (GST) rate is again under scrutiny, with Prime Minister Tony Abbott renewing his push for tax reform. However, former treasurer Peter Costello believes that any change in the scope or rate of the GST should be conditional on the scrapping of other taxes, rather than merely being used to increase government revenue. Abbott says he will only proceed with changes to the GST if it is fully supported by the states

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