Tax Tips: May 2017

In this issue:

New tax bill introduced

On 6 April 2017, the Government introduced the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2017–18, Employment and Investment Income, and Remedial Matters) Bill (the Bill). A key focus of the Bill is the implantation of the next steps in Inland Revenue’s business transformation programme, being the better administration of PAYE and the provision of investment income information to Inland Revenue. Both sets of proposals have been through the consultation process previously and therefore do not come as a surprise. In this article, we consider these key proposals and comment on some of the proposed changes that relate to other policy matters.

Further guidance on key tax changes enacted in recent Act

Following the enactment of the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2016-17, Closely Held Companies, and Remedial Matters) Act 2017 (the Act), Inland Revenue has published three special reports providing guidance on the application of the key areas of change:

  • NRWT: Related party and branch lending
  • Closely held companies
  • GST and services connected with land

Several of the enacted amendments differ from those that were initially proposed when the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2016-17, Closely Held Companies, and Remedial Matters) Bill (the Bill) was first introduced to Parliament. In this article, we discuss the key features of the new legislation in its final form.

Prosperity or peril: Australian Federal Budget 2017-2018

On 9 May 2017, the Australian Treasurer delivered the 2017-18 Federal Budget. Although there were no major surprises, the Treasurer did announce an unexpectedly high number of tax measures including the announcement of a major bank levy, personal tax increases, and a litany of measures to improve housing affordability in Australia, combat multinational tax avoidance and clamp down on the black economy.

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