Become a Member
Resources
Insights
Events
Education
Membership
About us
Contact us

Tax Policy and Advocacy

Our Tax Policy and Advocacy team support you with knowledge, experience and a leading voice in the tax profession.

Business people sitting in boardroom and working together at new strategy plan. Group of leader and businesspeople in a meeting at office. Senior executive with his team working in a conference room.

  

Advocacy Tracker

Ongoing issues

Stakeholder: ATO

We are working with the ATO in relation to member feedback about receiving very small amounts of interest from the ATO in their trust accounts as a result of their clients making their tax payments early (before the due date for payment). Feedback from members indicates amounts between $0.50 and $1.50 (in some cases, even less) being refunded to the taxpayer or their tax agent's trust account, electronically or with a physical cheques.

These amounts result from the ATO’s obligations to pay interest on early payments (IEP) under section 8A of the Taxation (Interest on Overpayments and Early Payments) Act 1983, which were automated from March 2022.

We have raised these concerns about the practical difficulties caused by these payments of these minor amounts and are actively working with the ATO over the coming weeks to assist our members understand and approach the administrative challenges, and identify a suitable way forward. We will keep our members updated on developments.

Stakeholder: Board of Taxation

 

The Government has released the terms of reference for a review to be undertaken by the Board of Taxation (the Board) into the appropriate policy framework for the taxation of digital assets and transactions in Australia. 

Broadly, the Board will consider the current taxation of digital assets in Australia, and whether any changes are needed to their taxation and/or administration without an increase in the overall tax burden for digital assets. The review will also compare the approach in other jurisdictions to the taxation of digital assets, and highlight the rapidly changing environment within which they exist.

We will continue to work with the Board on their review.

Stakeholder: ATO

 

Following a number of members raising the issue of the removal of paper activity statements with us, The Tax Institute escalated the matter to the ATO in late 2020.

This has resulted in a series of regular meetings to discuss the impact of the ATO’s decision to remove paper quarterly PAYG and GST instalment notices and the design of an interim solution which involves the reinstatement of paper activity statements from the March 2021 quarter.

We continue to work with the ATO in the design of a permanent solution.