News Directory

The Tax Laws Amendment (Small Business Measures No 1) Bill 2015 and the Tax Laws Amendment (Small Business Measures No 2) Bill 2015 have passed the Senate without amendment and are currently awaiting royal assent.

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Having been roundly savaged for his first Budget in 2014, which contributed in no small part to a ‘rocky’ first 18 months for the Abbott government, there has been much speculation about how the Federal Treasurer, Mr Joe Hockey, would address this in his second Budget.

Whether it was what the 2014 Budget actually contained, or how it was ‘sold’ to the electorate was the bigger problem remains a point of much contention (and depends on which side of the House you ask) but there is little likelihood of this second Budget being undersold. As we already know, significant new measures contained in the Budget have already been much touted through a series of high profile press releases and press conferences – not to mention the official “leaks”, a mainstay of 21st Century politics as it exists within a 24-hour news cycle. The question therefore was “What else is in there?”

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SuperStream for Employers   

SuperStream is a new process requiring employers to pay their employees’ superannuation contributions using the government’s new data standards.

From 1 July 2015, employers with 20 or more employees will be required to comply with the following:

1. The payment must be made electronically to the nominated superfund; and
2. Details of the payment transaction, such as the employee’s name, Tax File Number and superannuation fund member number are also sent to the superfund.

Employers with 19 or less employees have until 1 July 2016 to comply.

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The Treasurer, Joe Hockey, announced yesterday (11 May 2015) two “new major tax integrity measures” to be included in tonight’s Federal Budget.

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Some taxpayers have recently received fraudulent or hoax emails purporting to be from the Australian Taxation Office (“ATO”).

The various variations of these phishing emails often share a number of the following characteristics;
• The email requests personal information by:

• requesting that the taxpayer completes a form requiring personal information; or
• requesting that the taxpayer verifies their identify by emailing photographs or copies of their personal identification documents.

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Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey has published Re:think, a discussion paper that marks the launch of the long-awaited Tax White Paper process.

The discussion paper begins a formal government process for considering future directions for Australia’s tax system. The paper provides information about the challenges the system faces, identifies potential opportunities for reform and points to some of the “trade-offs” that would need to be considered. The Government is seeking feedback on whether the current tax system can be refined or whether it requires more fundamental change, and where fairness can be improved. The discussion paper asks how important it is to reform taxes to boost economic growth, and to what extent reducing complexity should be a priority.

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New Zealand’s Revenue Minister, Todd McClay released two documents on 31 March 2015 setting out the nation’s plans to modernize and simplify the tax system. The first document, Making Tax Simpler – a Government green paper on tax administration, aims to inform New Zealand taxpayers of the proposed initiatives and seeks feedback on the options. The second document, Better Digital Services, outlines proposals to expand the tax authority’s use of online systems that would enable faster, more accurate, more convenient interactions with the Inland Revenue Department (IRD).

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The ATO has introduced an online Simplified Transfer Pricing Record Keeping options guide which provides relief from preparing full transfer pricing documentation for perceived low risk taxpayers. This was introduced in recognition of the fact that compliance with the requirements of Subdivision 284-E imposed administrative burden that would be disproportionate to the taxpayers non compliance risk. Where a taxpayer is eligible and opts to rely on a simplified option, it will not need to prepare documentation in accordance with Subdivision 284-E. In general the Simplified Transfer Pricing Record Keeping options are available for taxpayers that meet one of the following criteria:

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