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Submissions

The Tax Institute is the most respected and influential contributor to the development of tax policy and administration in Australia. As part of this contribution, we prepare top level submissions on tax policy, administration and technical matters at both Federal and State levels. Non-confidential submissions prepared from 1996 onwards and covering legislation, ATO and Treasury consultative documents and papers, as well as rulings, determinations and a range of other ATO opinion and guideline documents, are available here.

  • Proposal for exemption from WA Transfer Duty

    20 Aug 2019

    On behalf of The Tax Institute’s Western Australia Technical Committee, we are writing to request a meeting with you to discuss a proposal we would like to make to the Government of Western Australia, Department of Treasury.

  • State Taxation Acts Amendment Bill 2019

    06 Jun 2019

    The Tax Institute wishes to provide its views on the proposed new economic entitlement provisions contained in Division 3 of Part 2 of the State Taxation Acts Amendment Bill 2019 (the Bill). In this submission, The Tax Institute also raises its concerns about the provisions proposed to impose duty on the acquisition of fixtures contained in Division 2 of Part 2 of the Bill and the retrospective nature of the provisions contained in Part 5 of the Bill which remove the special provisions for calculating the value of land on which a heritage building is situated.

  • Letter to Assistant Treasurer Re Consultation: Improvements to Consultation on Tax Policy and Administration of the Tax System

    05 Jun 2019

    The National Tax Liaison Group (NTLG) is the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) longest standing consultative forum, focusing on strategic taxation matters of national interest. The primary objective of the NTLG is to provide a wide range of stakeholders with the opportunity to discuss the strategic direction of the tax system and to deliver opportunities for improvements to the administration of the tax system. The NTLG's membership is comprised of senior ATO and Treasury officers and representatives of the major tax, law, and accounting professional associations. Details of the activities of the NTLG, including its membership, can be found here.

  • Draft Taxation Determination TD 2019/D1 - Joint Submission

    21 May 2019

    The Taxation Law Committee of the Business Law Section of the Law Council of Australia joint with The Tax Institute welcome the opportunity to provide a submission on the Australian Taxation Office's (ATO) Draft TD 2019/D1 “What is a restructuring for the purposes of subsection 125-70(1) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997?” (the Draft TD).

  • Review of the Tax Practitioners Board

    18 Apr 2019

    The Tax Institute welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to Treasury in relation to the Review of the Tax Practitioners Board (Review). This review is an extremely important review given the role of the Tax Practitioners Board (Board) to govern and regulate the tax profession.

  • Letter to Leader of the Opposition from The Tax Institute re tax advisers

    16 Apr 2019

    It has been reported in the media recently that you described the long standing, express statutory availability of a tax deduction for assistance from a lawfully authorised tax practitioner as a “rort”, and propose that a Labor government would cap that deduction at $3,000.

  • Post-Implementation review of the Tax Transparency Code (TTC)

    02 Apr 2019

    The Tax Institute welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the Board of Taxation in relation to the Post-Implementation review of the Tax Transparency Code Consultation Paper (Consultation Paper).

    The Tax Institute acknowledges that increased transparency, including a well-designed voluntary TTC, will have a positive impact on the integrity of the tax system and thereby on voluntary compliance. In particular, transparency measures have the ability to positively influence the perception of taxpayers generally with respect to the large corporate sector and to underscore the important role they play in the economy. A properly designed TTC can assist in moving any public discussion away from unhelpful rhetoric, such as notions of a company paying its ‘fair share’ of tax, to more accurate and objective measures.

  • Transfer Balance Account Reporting (TBAR) amendments

    29 Mar 2019

    In general, retirees face a $1.6 million cap on the amount they can use to purchase a tax-free superannuation pension. Existing retirement pension balances on 1 July 2017 (being the date TBAR was introduced) also count towards that cap.

    The transfer balance account is maintained to keep track of the remaining cap space for the retiree, with:

    • a credit arising when a member starts to receive a pension in retirement phase, and on 1 July 2017 for existing pensions in retirement phase; and
    • a debit arising when a member receives a lump sum in part or full commutation of the pension.
    • In recognition that it is difficult to bring the value of some pensions down to the cap, additional cap space is provided to allow for the full credit value of:
    • defined benefit lifetime pensions; and
    • life expectancy pensions and account-based market-linked pensions that were already in existence in retirement phase on 1 July 2017.

    These types of pensions were (in the most part) not account-based, so special values were used to work out the credit. For whatever reason, a special value was also used for the 1 July 2017 value of account-based market-linked pensions.

    Unfortunately, the interaction of the credit and later debit upon commutation did not always produce sensible outcomes. The Bill and Regulations are intended to rectify the position for account-based market-linked pensions and in some other situations.

  • Small Business Taxation Division - Administrative Appeals Tribunal

    19 Mar 2019

    The Tax Institute supports the establishment of the Small Business Taxation Division (Division). However, some aspects of the Division require further consideration. The purpose of this submission is to outline the main issues that need to be considered as the Division is developed. In addition, The Tax Institute suggests that further consultation be undertaken by the AAT and ATO around 12 months after the Division has commenced operation to assess its effectiveness.