Greenwoods & Freehills Weekly Tax Highlights 8.6.12

ATO documents

Taxation Determinations
TD 2012/10: Income tax: when is income tax of a private company a 'present legal obligation' for the purposes of the distributable surplus calculation under subsection 109Y(2) of Division 7A of Part III of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936?
TD 2012/11: Income tax: capital gains: for the purposes of subsection 115-228(1) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, can a beneficiary of a trust estate be reasonably expected to receive an amount of a financial benefit referable to a capital gain made by the trust estate in an income year if the fact that the capital gain was made is not established until after the end of the income year?
TD 2012/12: Income tax: Division 7A: do the rules in Subdivision D of Division 7A of Part III of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 which exclude certain payments or loans from being treated as dividends under Subdivision B of Division 7A of that Act necessarily affect the circumstances in which a deemed payment or notional loan arises under Subdivision E of Division 7A of that Act?
TD 2012/13: Income tax: is the gain or loss resulting from the expiration, sale, termination or exercise of a hedging financial arrangement to which a hedging financial arrangement election applies, determined and allocated in accordance with subsections 230-300(2) and 230-300(3) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997? 

Addendum
TD 2008/30: Income tax: consolidation: capital gains: for the purposes of Part 3-90 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, is the CGT asset that an entity has contracted to buy from another taxpayer an asset of the entity at a time it joins or leaves a consolidated group, if the contract is not completed at that time?

GST Determination
GSTD 2012/5: Goods and services tax: are acquisitions related to an entity's retail foreign currency exchange transactions with customers in Australia made solely for a creditable purpose under section 11-15 of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999? 
 
Draft GST Determinations
GSTD 2012/D1: Goods and services tax: when are supplies of interconnection services made by an Australian resident telecommunication supplier GST-free under item 2 in the table in subsection 38-190(1) of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999?
GSTD 2012/D2: Goods and services tax: when are telecommunication supplies made under arrangements for global roaming outside Australia by an Australian resident telecommunication supplier GST-free under item 3 in the table in subsection 38-190(1) of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999?
GSTD 2012/D3: Goods and services tax: is the supply of a right to capacity in an international telecommunication network made by an Australian resident telecommunication supplier GST-free under item 4 in the table in subsection 38-190(1) of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999? 
GSTD 2012/D4: Goods and services tax: when are telecommunication supplies made under arrangements for global roaming in Australia by an Australian resident telecommunication supplier GST-free under subsection 38-570(1) and subsection 38-570(3) of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999? 
 
Interpretative Decision
ATO ID 2012/50: Part IVA: multiple entry consolidated group - cancel tax benefit
ATO ID 2012/51: Assessments for the 2003-04 and earlier nil years: nil liability return for the 2003-04 income year: limited period for making an original assessment for a nil year: taxpayer consented to extending the limited amendment periods for the 2003-04 and later relevant income years
ATO ID 2012/52: Self Managed Superannuation Fund: in-house assets - additional investment in a related trust - trust borrowings outstanding at 28 June 2000 not increased and were discharged prior to additional investment
ATO ID 2012/53: Self Managed Superannuation Fund: in-house assets - additional investment in a related trust - trust borrowings at 28 June 2000 increased and discharged prior to additional investment in the related trust

Consolidated Media Holdings Ltd v Commissioner of Taxation [2012] FCAFC 36 (20 March 2012): The Commissioner has lodged an application for special leave to appeal to the High Court. The  Full Federal Court unanimously held that the purchase price paid under an off-market share buy-back transaction was a deemed dividend.

Qantas Airways Limited v Commissioner of Taxation [2011] FCAFC 113 (1 September 2011): The Commissioner has been granted special leave to appeal to the High Court. The Full Federal Court unanimously upheld an appeal by Qantas against the AAT’s decision that there is a supply for GST purposes when a passenger cancels their booking or does not show for the flight and the fare is not refunded.

Esso Australia Resources Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Taxation [2012] FCAFC 5 (20 February 2012): The taxpayer has lodged an application for special leave to appeal to the High Court. The Full Federal Court unanimously held that Esso Australia Resources Pty Ltd was not entitled to deductions under the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax Assessment Act 1987 for certain contract payments made to a subsidiary and contribution fees paid to a US affiliate.

Tax cases