Greenwoods & Freehills Weekly Tax Highlights 10.8.07-17.8.07

ATO Documents

Released 8.8.07

Class Rulings
CR 2007/77: Income tax: capital gains: demerger of NuPower Resources Limited by Arafura Resources NL 
CR 2007/78: Income tax: cancellation of shares in Cumnock Coal Limited 
Addenda
Fuel Tax Determination
FTD 2006/3: Fuel tax: what is an 'enterprise' for the purposes of the Fuel Tax Act 2006?
Fuel Tax Rulings
FTR 2006/1: Fuel tax: fuel tax credits for taxable fuel acquired or manufactured in, or imported into Australia for use in carrying on an enterprise involving 'agriculture' as defined in section 22 of the Energy Grants (Credit) Scheme Act 2003 
FTR 2006/2: Fuel tax: fuel tax credits for taxable fuel acquired or manufactured in, or imported into Australia for use in carrying on an enterprise involving 'mining operations' as defined in section 11 of the Energy Grants (Credit) Scheme Act 2003 
FTR 2006/3: Fuel tax: fuel tax credits for taxable fuel acquired or manufactured in, or imported into Australia for use in carrying on an enterprise involving 'forestry' as defined in section 35 of the Energy Grants (Credit) Scheme Act 2003 
FTR 2006/4: Fuel tax: fuel tax credits for taxable fuel acquired or manufactured in, or imported into Australia for use in carrying on an enterprise involving 'fishing operations' as defined in section 34 of the Energy Grants (Credit) Scheme Act 2003 
Goods and Services Tax Determinations
GSTD 2000/10: Goods and services tax: are outgoings payable by a tenant under a commercial property lease part of the consideration for the supply of the premises?  15 August 2007
GSTD 2004/3: Goods and services tax: is a supply of rights to accommodation a supply of real property for the purposes of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999? 
Goods and Services Tax Rulings
GSTR 2000/10: Goods and services tax: recipient created tax invoices 
GSTR 2000/11: Goods and services tax: grants of financial assistance 
GSTR 2000/31: Goods and services tax: supplies connected with Australia 
GSTR 2000/33: Goods and services tax: international travel insurance 
GSTR 2000/37: Goods and services tax: agency relationships and the application of the law 
GSTR 2002/2: Goods and services tax: GST treatment of financial supplies and related supplies and acquisitions 
GSTR 2002/6: Goods and services tax: exports of goods, items 1 to 4 of the table in subsection 38-185 (1) of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 
GSTR 2003/13: Goods and services tax: general law partnerships 
GSTR 2004/6: Goods and services tax: tax law partnerships and co-owners of property 
GSTR 2006/4: Goods and services tax: determining the extent of creditable purpose for claiming input tax credits and for making adjustments for changes in extent of creditable purpose 
GSTR 2006/10: Goods and services tax: insurance settlements and entitlement to input tax credits  

Tax Laws Amendment (2007 Measures No 5) Bill 2007

Introduced 16.8.07

Tax Laws Amendment (2007 Measures No 5) Bill 2007 and the accompanying Explanatory Memoranda has been introduced into Parliament. The Bill makes the following major changes:
- inserts a new Div 250 into the ITAA 1997. This will modify the taxation treatment of leasing and similar arrangements between taxpayers and tax-preferred end users (such as tax-exempt entities and non-residents) for the financing and provision of infrastructure and other assets.  If the provisions are found to apply to an arrangement, it will be treated as a loan that is taxed as a financial arrangement on a compounding accruals basis. 
- amends the company loss recoupment rules to remove the $100m total income cap on the same business test. This will  apply to losses incurred in an income year commencing on or after 1 July 2005.
- extends the existing statutory licence CGT roll-over provisions to provide for a partial roll-over. Thei will apply from the 2007-07 income tax year..
- extends the CGT marriage breakdown roll-over for small super funds allowing to in specie transfers of personal superannuation to a complying superfund under specific circumstances.
- The tax laws are amended to provide holders of ownership interests in stapled entities with a CGT roll-over when a public unit trust is interposed between those holders and the stapled entities. The new amendments ensure that such restructures do not result in the interposed head trust being taxed as if it were a company. In addition,
- Public unit trusts will be able to acquire controlling interests in, or control, foreign entities whose business consists primarily of investing in land outside Australia for the purpose of deriving rent.
- changes the definition of "excluded equity interest". The effect is to exclude from the definition those equity interests that remain on issue for a total period of 180 days or more, whether or not this was the case at a specific valuation day. 
- allows certain authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) known as specialist credit card institutions tobe treated as if they were not ADIs in certain circumstances.
- new deductions for R&D
- introduces new tax offsets (the producer offset, the location offset and the PDV offset) and will phase-out the existing tax incentives provided to investors in Australian films.
- exempts from income tax the Prime Minister's Prize for Australian History and the Prime Minister's Prize for Science, to the extent that the prizes would otherwise be assessable income.
- amends the ITAA 1997 to update the list of deductible gift recipients (DGRs).