Hanson warms to media reform

August 3, 2017roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Darren Davidson
The Australian – Page: 3 : 3-Aug-17

Foxtel CEO Peter Tonagh says Amazon’s deal to acquire the exclusive British rights to ATP tour tennis rights demonstrates the need for Australia’s anti-siphoning laws to be reviewed. The Federal Government intends to reduce the number of sports events on the list as part of its broader media reform package. Meanwhile, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has signalled that the party may be open to supporting the reforms if the Government agrees to address its concerns about the package.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, SKY PLC, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

Labor tax hike on trusts ‘risks hurting economy’

August 3, 2017roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Adam Creighton, Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 3-Aug-17

Former Commonwealth Bank chairman John Ralph says the Federal Opposition’s proposal to impose a tax rate of 30 per cent on the distributions of discretionary trusts appears to be aimed at increasing tax revenue. Ralph, who headed a business tax review in 1999, adds that taxing trusts at the same rate as companies could merely prompt growth in the use of alternative structures to reduce tax liability. He also says the measures – which Opposition Leader Bill Shorten claims are aimed at addressing the issue of inequality – will have an adverse effect on economic growth and Australia’s competitiveness.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION

Labor’s trust policy misses the rich

August 2, 2017roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 2-Aug-17

Tax experts have questioned the likely effectiveness of the Federal Opposition’s proposed tax crackdown on family discretionary trusts in targeting wealthy Australians. Chapman Eastway CEO Sean Cortis says taxing family trusts at the same rate as companies would primarily affect people with investable assets of less than $A5m, rather than the "mega rich". The reforms are aimed at curbing the practice of income-splitting, but tax experts say wealthy families are more likely to "warehouse" money in a company within a family trust.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CHAPMAN EASTWAY, BDO AUSTRALIA LIMITED, GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY. GRIFFITH BUSINESS SCHOOL

Shorten ‘lie’ on growth exposed

August 1, 2017roymorgansocial Leave a comment

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

Taxing trusts as companies not a bad idea, lawyers say

July 28, 2017roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 28-Jul-17

Opposition leader Bill Shorten has indicated that he will scrutinise the tax treatment of family trusts if Labor wins the next federal election. Currently, trust themselves are not taxed, with the income they distribute being taxed at a beneficiary level. However, it is possible that Labor may decide to start taxing trusts as companies, a move once considered by the Howard government. Michael Parker of Hall & Wilcox says such an idea has merit, provided that trusts are still able to access franking credits and the capital gains tax discount.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, HALL AND WILCOX, RSM GROUP, BDO GROUP PTY LTD

Labor left to embrace Corbyn, torpedo neoliberal economics

July 28, 2017roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Troy Bramston
The Australian – Page: 1 & 7 : 28-Jul-17

The Australian Labor Party’s left faction will use its New South Wales state conference to ramp up its push to make inequality a key policy agenda. The left faction intends to formally repudiate the neoliberalism policies of the Bob Hawke and Paul Keating-led Labor governments in favour of the socialist agenda of the UK Labour Party’s leader, Jeremy Corbyn. Labor’s national assistant secretary, Paul Erickson, has praised Corbyn and believes that Australians are just as disillusioned about mainstream politics as people in the UK.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LABOUR PARTY (GREAT BRITAIN)

‘Dangerous’ bank levy may have domino effect: Bligh

July 27, 2017roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Crowe, Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 17 & 21 : 27-Jul-17

Australian Bankers’ Association CEO Anna Bligh has expressed concern that more state governments could implement their own version of the federal levy on banks. The levy is intended to boost government revenue by $A6.2bn, but Bligh has told the National Press Club that this impost could double if all states introduced their own levy. Bligh also supports Peter Costello’s call for banking industry executives to justify their high salaries, while she has questioned whether a royal commission into banks – as advocated by Labor – is appropriate and necessary.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BANKERS’ ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY, NATIONAL PRESS CLUB (AUSTRALIA), SOUTH AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE

‘No quick fix’ in tax plan for family trusts

July 27, 2017roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 27-Jul-17

There is speculation that Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will propose subjecting family trusts to the same tax regime as companies. However, Bob Deutsch of the Tax Institute has questioned the merits of such a strategy, arguing that the dividend imputation system means that some beneficiaries of a trust would entitled to a full refund of the taxes paid. The recommendations of the Ralph Review of Business Taxation in 1999 included taxing trusts in the same way as companies.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, THE TAX INSTITUTE, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, GREENWOODS AND HERBERT SMITH FREEHILLS PTY LTD

Labor won’t abolish trusts, just tax them

July 26, 2017roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 26-Jul-17

Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen says the Australian Labor Party will still allow people to use trust structures if it wins the next federal election. However, Labor will crack down on the use of trusts as vehicles to reduce tax liabilities, although there are concerns that its measures could mainly affect users of trusts such as farmers and small businesses. Treasurer Scott Morrison says there are many legitimate reasons for using a trust.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

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