TAXATION – GOVERNMENT POLICY – AUSTRALIA

Google tax to hit profit shifting

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

The Australian Government’s May 2015 Budget will include tax measures aimed at addressing the problem of profit-shifting by multinational corporations. The so-called "Google tax" will be modelled on the UK’s Diverted Profits Tax. The Australian Labor Party recently unveiled measures intended to combat profit-shifting. The Budget will also include a levy on bank deposits, while the small business sector will receive a tax cut

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, GROUP OF TWENTY (G-20), AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, THE GROUP OF EIGHT LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Dividend credit debate splits business, investors

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Original article by Vesna Poljak, Shaun Drummond, Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 31-Mar-15

Changes to the dividend imputation system are among the reforms canvassed in the Australian Government’s tax discussion paper, which was released in late March 2015. Wilson Asset Management chairman Geoff Wilson says scrapping dividend imputation credits may result in a sharp fall in yields for investors, while Fidelity fund manager Paul Taylor warns that it would result in poor decisions on the allocation of capital. However, some observers are in favour of reviewing dividend imputation

CORPORATES
WILSON ASSET MANAGEMENT, FIDELITY INVESTMENTS AUSTRALIA LIMITED, CREDIT SUISSE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, CORPORATE TAX ASSOCIATION, COCHLEAR LIMITED – ASX COH, GROUP OF 100, BUSINESS COALITION FOR TAX REFORM, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, WAVESTONE CAPITAL PTY LTD, CARDNO LIMITED – ASX CDD, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP

Budget woos small firms, start-ups

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 25-Mar-15

The Australian Government’s May 2015 Budget will include tax relief for small businesses, including those that are not incorporated. There were concerns that they would not receive the proposed 1.5 per cent reduction in the company tax rate for small businesses. The Government may also introduce accelerated depreciation for assets held by small businesses, while it intends to wind back changes to employee option schemes that were implemented by the Australian Labor Party

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY AND SCIENCE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Big pressure to scrap small firms tax cut

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 24-Mar-15

The Council of Small Business Australia has urged the Federal Government to abandon a proposed 1.5 per cent tax cut for small businesses. CEO Peter Strong argues that the tax cut that has been proposed for the May 2016 Budget will do little to improve business confidence. The council instead favours the introduction of an accelerated depreciation rate of 150 per cent for the sector, a move which is also supported by several government MPs

CORPORATES
COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY AND SCIENCE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE

Hockey puts tax debate on hold

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 13-Feb-15

The Australian Government will issue its tax white paper after the release of its intergenerational report. Treasurer Joe Hockey said on 12 February 2015 that the intergenerational report will provide significant information about factors that are likely to affect Australia’s tax policy. The Government had originally planned to release the tax white paper before Christmas 2014

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Rethink call for two-tier tax

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 11-Feb-15

Employers’ groups have expressed concern about a proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate for small businesses while retaining the existing rate that applies to large companies. Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry CEO Kate Carnell says businesses will face more red tape if the Federal Government implements a "two-tiered" corporate tax system. She has urged the Government to consult the business sector on the issue

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT

ATO urged to stop valuations

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Original article by Nassim Khadem
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 20-Jan-15

A review of the Australian Taxation Office’s administration of valuation matters was issued by Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on 19 January 2015. The review, by Inspector-General of Taxation Ali Noroozi, proposed that valuation only be required "where it has the highest net benefit". Noroozi states that the valuation process has been innately subjective. One of the review’s nine recommendations is that businesses smaller than a certain size be exempt from undertaking valuations

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, BDO AUSTRALIA LIMITED, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CORPORATE TAX ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR-GENERAL OF TAXATION

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

Reforms to cut through red tape

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Original article by Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 20 : 11-Dec-14

National Australia Bank’s Angela Mentis has suggested to the Federal Government that it could reduce red tape for small businesses by scrapping business activity statements. This is one of the recommendations that Mentis has made to the Minister for Small Business, Bruce Bilson. She argues that technology solutions could be used to assist small business owners to compile data for the monthly statements

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY