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March 2020

MLCo • Mar 05, 2020

The ATO has welcomed the decision of the High Court to basically uphold the decision of the Full Federal Court in a case which the ATO won, in relation to foreign income tax offsets ('FITO'). An Australian tax resident had sold some US investments and paid US tax on the gains. The taxpayer was then basically taxed on half of those gains in his assessable Australian income (i.e., the gains were eligible for the CGT discount in Australia).

The taxpayer included the whole of the US tax paid in his FITO to offset against his Australian income tax.

However, when determining the FITO available, the ATO only allowed the proportion of the US tax paid that related to the capital gain included in his Australian assessable income.

Also discussed in this month's edition:

  • Employer's requirements and the deductibility of WREs
  • SMS scam targeting natural disaster victims
  • Further STP developments
  • STP and employer clients
  • Valuing car parking fringe benefits

Superannuation Guarantee Amnesty Legislation Summary

Parliament has passed a new piece of legislation designed to grant special relief to employers who are behind on their superannuation guarantee payments for their employees. The amnesty period ends on 26 August 2020. These amnesty provisions may drastically reduce the penalties on the late payment of your superannuation guarantee amounts along with rendering them deductible where they otherwise would not be.

Item  Previous Previous
Late superannuation guarantee payments Non-deductible Deductible
Interest on late superannuation guarantee payments Payable Payable
Administration fee of $20 per employee per quarter Payable Not Payable
Penalties on late superannuation guarantee payments Payable (up to 20% of the late superannuation guarantee amount) Not Payable

In order to access these special amnesty provisions the following conditions must be met:

  • You must not have been assessed for a Superannuation Guarantee Charge amount nor been advised or informed by the Commissioner of Taxation that the ATO is examining or intends to examine a Superannuation Guarantee shortfall amount for that shortfall quarter.
  • You must submit a Superannuation Guarantee Charge statement with the ATO before 26 August 2020.
  • You must pay all outstanding Superannuation Guarantee Charge amounts on or before the due date, or have entered into a payment plan to pay all outstanding amounts, and
  • Any failure to pay the outstanding Superannuation Guarantee Charge amounts will cause you to cease qualifying for amnesty.

 

If you wish to make a submission under the amnesty, please contact Robert from our office.

 

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