TaxTalk Today- 17th November 2015
PwC Australia
Australian Taxation Office
New or updated materials on ATO website, including:
- Decision impact statement on McGrouther & Anor v Commissioner of Taxation case concerning whether a taxpayer can waive or withdraw a notice given to the Commissioner under s14ZYA(2) of the Taxation Administration Act 1953 (requiring the Commissioner to determine an objection within 60 days of the notice, otherwise he will be deemed to have disallowed the objection). Comments due 14 December 2015
LegalTalk Alert
This LegalTalk Alert, Re-booting eHealth, looks at changes to the eHealth program following the passing of the Health Legislation Amendment Bill 2015 by both houses of Parliament last week.
OECD BEPS Project
The leaders of the G20 have endorsed the package of measures developed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in its Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) package at the Leaders’ Summit held on 15 – 16 November in Turkey, noting that wide-spread and consistent implementation will be critical in the effectiveness of the project, and reaffirming previous commitments to information exchange on-request as well as to automatic exchange of information by 2017 or end-2018. Further details are set out in the G20 Leaders’ Communique.
Tax Transparency
The ATO has published the first part of its guidance material in relation to the Commissioner’s first tax transparency report due to be released shortly. This guidance material also serves as one month’s general notice that the report will be released in the week beginning 14 December 2015. Additional guidance material is expected to be released in the next few weeks prior to the release of the report and at the same time as the report itself.
Superannuation
The Assistant Treasurer Kelly O’Dwyer yesterday gave a speech as part of the Financial Services Council BT Political Breakfast Series where she provided an overview of the Government’s plans to improve the alignment, level of competition, efficiency, transparency and governance in the superannuation system.
Customs & Trade
The Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb has announced that the Government is inviting submissions from interested individuals and groups on a potential Australia-European Union Free Trade Agreement. Further details can be found on the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website, with submissions due by 26 February 2016.
