Written by TaxCounsel Pty Ltd
The following points highlight important federal tax developments that occurred during May 2019.
Each month, these developments are considered in more detail in the 'Taxing Issues' column of Taxation in Australia, the Institute's member journal.
Environmental protection activities
The Commissioner has issued a draft ruling that considers aspects of the immediate deduction allowable under s 40-755 ITAA97 for expenditure incurred for the sole or dominant purpose of carrying on environmental protection activities (TR 2019/D3).
Cryptocurrency: data matching
The ATO has announced that it is collecting bulk records from Australian cryptocurrency designated service providers as part of a data matching program to ensure that people trading in cryptocurrency are paying the right amount of tax.
Company carrying on business: rating purposes
A final ruling recently issued by the Commissioner considers when a company can be said to carry on a business for rating purposes for the 2015-16 and 2016-17 income years (TR 2019/1).
Thin capitalisation: arm’s length debt test
The Commissioner has released a draft ruling that deals with the application of the arm’s length debt test contained in the thin capitalisation rules in Div 820 ITAA97 (TR 2019/D2).
Tax agent registration issues
In two recent decisions, the Federal Court and the AAT have considered issues involving the registration of tax agents.
No PAYG withholding established
In judicial review proceedings brought by the taxpayer, the Federal Court (Thawley J) has held that the taxpayer had not established that (as he claimed) amounts had been withheld from wages paid to him under the PAYG system for which he was entitled to a credit in the assessments for the relevant income years (Price v FCT [2019] FCA 543).
Limited partnerships: Commissioner succeeds
The Full Federal Court has allowed the Commissioner’s appeal in the Resource Capital Fund case and held, among other points, that a corporate limited partnership is treated (by virtue of Div 5A ITAA36) as a separate taxable entity for the purposes of the income tax law (FCT v Resource Capital Fund IV LP [2019] FCAFC 51).
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