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MARCH 2010
End of the 2009/10 FBT Year
The fringe benefits tax (FBT) year runs from 1 April until 31 March, which means it is time to get those records in order. click here for more details.
Contractors v employees
The taxpayer has appealed to the Federal Court against the decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in Roy Morgan Research Pty Ltd and Comm of Tax. This important decision has been reported previously in this newsletter and concerns superannuation guarantee default assessments being issued to the taxpayer after finding that its market research interviewers were "employees" for superannuation guarantee purposes, and not independent contractors.
Personal services income
The PSI provisions look through arrangements whereby companies and trusts (or other entities) are contracted to provide services which are properly referable to the person who carries out the work. The provisions assess the individual who carries out the work on the income derived and not the entity that was contracted to deliver those services. click here for more details.
Taxpayer gets no deduction for misappropriated funds
The Full Federal Court in Lean v Comm of Tax, has held that the taxpayer was not entitled to a deduction of nearly $3.3M in respect of money from the sale of shares which was subsequently misappropriated even though the taxpayer was assessed on the profit on sale of the shares. click here for more details.
Residential land and GST
Taxpayers and the ATO are still trying to resolve the riddle of what constitutes residential land for GST purposes. The issue is a concern because that fact determines whether or not a taxpayer is entitled to input credits for GST paid in relation to a property. click here for more details.
Rental properties – travel expenses
The Australian Taxation Office continues to scrutinise landlord's expenses, particularly travel expenses. The Assistant Treasurer has warned Australians of a new email phishing scam using false tax incentives to try to steal private information. Phishing is the name for the act of requesting confidential information over the Internet under false pretences to fraudulently obtain credit card numbers, passwords, or other personal data. It's the ATO's party and they'll cry if they want to The Assistant Treasurer has announced that the Royal Australian Mint will produce a commemorative 20 cent coin to mark the Centenary of the Australian Taxation Office in 2010.
What travel expenses can taxpayers with a rental property claim?
Taxpayers can claim: click here for more details.
Sophisticated 'phishing' scam alerts
The scams are increasingly sophisticated. However, the Australian Taxation Office are vigilant for these types of schemes and post examples of fraud emails on their website.
The ATO's 100th anniversary since foundation is on 11 November, however, Senator Sherry said that, in deference to the fallen and to war veterans, the ATO will mark its anniversary on the day after Remembrance Day, 12 November.
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The information in this newsletter is quite general in nature and anyone intending to apply it practically to their own circumstances should seek professional advice to verify it’s individual applicability.
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