Greenwoods and Freehills Weekly Tax Highlights - Week Ended 29.8.08

ATO Documents

Released 27.8.08

Taxpayer Alerts
TA 2008/17: Claims for GST refunds beyond four years arising from the reclassification of a previously taxable supply as GST free.
Goods and Services Tax Determination
GSTD 2008/2: Goods and services tax: are supplies of food known as breakfast bars GST-free?
Taxation Ruling
TR 2008/5: Income tax: tax consequences for a company of issuing shares for assets or for services
TR 2008/6: Petroleum resource rent tax and income tax: treatment of geosequestration expenditure and receipts
TR 2008/7: Income tax: royalty withholding tax and the assignment of copyright
Class Ruling
CR 2008/55: Fringe benefits tax: employer clients of Auto-Ad Pty Limited whose employees hire cars from Smart Car Rentals Pty Limited
Addendum
Fuel Tax Ruling
FTR 2007/1: Fuel tax: the meaning of 'acquire', 'manufacture' and 'import' in the expression 'taxable fuel that you acquire or manufacture in, or import into, Australia to the extent that you do so for use in carrying on your enterprise' in the Fuel Tax Act 2006
Notices of Withdrawal
Taxation Ruling
TR 94/12: Income tax: approved early retirement scheme and bona fide redundancy payments

Released 29.8.08

Interpretative Decision
ATO ID 2008/115: Eligibility for Tax Offset: R&D tax offset and exempt entity ownership exception
Withdrawn Interpretative Decisions
ATO ID 2004/52: Capital gains tax: Water rights - statutory licence rollover
ATO ID 2006/19: Superannuation deductions and the research and development tax concession 
ATO ID 2008/15: Superannuation: deductibility of superannuation contribution made to a director of a corporate trustee 

Introduced 27.8.08

The new Convention will enter into force 30 days after both countries advise that they have completed their domestic requirements which, in the case of Australia, includes enactment of this Bill. 

On the 28.8.08, Tax Laws Amendment (2008 Measures No 4) Bill 2008 was passed by the House of Representatives without amendment. The Federal Opposition has indicated that it will oppose the amendments to the family trust measures in the Senate. For the status of current taxation legislation, please refer to the table at the end of this document.

Prushka Fast Debt Recovery Pty Ltd and FCT [2008] AATA 762, 28 August 2008: The AAT has found that bonuses paid by the taxpayer were not considered when calculating its superannuation guarantee liability. The Tribunal found that the bonuses formed part of the salary and wages of the employees of the taxpayer and that, therefore, the Commissioner was correct to impose shortfall charges.