Advice under development – income tax issues
We are developing advice and guidance on the following income tax issues.
See also:
[3599] Employee remuneration trust arrangements
Title
Final Taxation Ruling
Income tax: employee remuneration trust arrangements
Registered
14 November 2012
Purpose
To provide advice on how the taxation laws apply to an employee remuneration trust arrangement.
Expected completion
October 2017
Comments
Draft Taxation Ruling TR 2017/D5 published on 8 June 2017, and replaces TR 2014/D1.
[3688] Promoter penalty laws
Title
Law administration practice statement
Administration of the promoter penalty laws (Division 290 of Schedule 1 to the Taxation Administration Act 1953)
Registered
24 July 2014
Purpose
To provide guidance to staff on the relevant administrative processes when applying the promoter penalty laws.
Expected completion
October 2017
[3702] Capital allowances – composite items
Title
Final Taxation Ruling
Income tax: composite items and identifying the depreciating asset for the purposes of working out capital allowances
Registered
17 November 2014
Purpose
To consolidate current ATO views into a taxation ruling.
Expected completion
To be advised
Comments
TR 2017/D1 published on 18 January 2017. The publication of this ruling is delayed due to ongoing internal review processes and the consideration of comments received.
[3712] Environmental protection activities
Title
Draft Taxation Ruling
Income tax: environmental protection activities
Registered
2 April 2015
Purpose
To clarify if a taxpayer is able to deduct expenditure incurred in an income year for the sole or dominant purpose of carrying on environmental protection activities.
Expected completion
To be advised
Comments
The publication of this ruling is delayed due to ongoing internal review processes.
[3718] Corporate limited partnership ‘credits’
Title
Final Taxation Ruling
Income tax: when does a corporate limited partnership ‘credit’ an amount to a partner in that partnership?
Registered
23 April 2015
Purpose
To clarify when an amount is credited within the meaning of section 94M.
Expected completion
October 2017
Comments
TR 2017/D4 published on 17 May 2017.
[3734] Deductibility of legal expenses
Title
Draft Taxation Ruling
Income tax: deductibility of legal expenses under section 8-1 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997
Registered
14 December 2015
Purpose
To consolidate current ATO views into one product using a principles-based approach to assist taxpayers to determine the deductibility of their legal expenses.
Expected completion
October 2017
Comments
The publication of this ruling is delayed due to ongoing internal review processes. See also finalised consultation matter [201569].
[3755] Withholding provisions relating to natural resource income
Title
Final Taxation Ruling
Income tax: application of section 6CA of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 and Australia’s tax treaties and the payer’s withholding obligations
Registered
8 April 2016
Purpose
To provide certainty as to the application of section 6CA of the ITAA 1936, section 12-325 of Schedule 1 to the Taxation Administration Act 1953 and their interactions with Australia’s tax treaties.
Expected completion
13 December 2017
Comments
TR 2016/D3 was published on 14 December 2016. We will be undertaking further consultation with industry on the draft prior to finalisation.
[3756] Deduction for work related travel expenses
Title
Final Taxation Ruling
Income tax and fringe benefits tax: when are deductions allowed for employees' travel expenses?
Registered
14 April 2016
Purpose
To clarify whether deductions are available for work-related travel expenses.
Expected completion
25 October 2017
Comments
TR 2017/D6 was published on 28 June 2017.
[3767] Personal services income – meaning of personal services business
Title
Draft Taxation Ruling
Income tax: the meaning of personal services income and what is a personal services business
Registered
22 July 2016
Purpose
To consolidate TR 2001/7 Income tax: the meaning of personal services income and TR 2001/8 Income tax: what is a personal services business
Expected completion
18 October 2017
[3768] Personal services income – attribution and deductions
Title
Draft Taxation Ruling
Income tax: attribution of personal services income and deductions relating to that income
Registered
22 July 2016
Purpose
To consolidate TR 2003/6 Income tax: deductions that relate to personal services and TR 2003/10 Income tax: attribution of personal services income
Expected completion
20 December 2017
[3777] Receiver’s obligation to retain money in respect of post-appointment tax liabilities
Title
Draft Taxation Determination
Income tax: what is a receiver’s obligation to retain money in respect of post-appointment tax liabilities under section 254 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936?
Registered
11 August 2016
Purpose
To provide certainty on a receiver's obligation to retain money in respect of post-appointment tax liabilities.
Expected completion
To be advised
Comments
When finalised, this ruling will replace TD 2012/D7.
[3780] Trust vesting
Title
Draft Taxation Ruling
Income tax: trust vesting
Registered
August 2016
Purpose
To give our view of the trust law and tax law consequences of various issues concerning the vesting of a trust.
Expected completion
November 2017
Comments
A consultation paper on this topic issued on 2 November 2016.
See also finalised consultation matter [201657]
[3796] Consolidation – tax offsets
Issue
How does the head company of a consolidated group (or MEC group) satisfy the requirements of section 65-40 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 when it seeks to apply a carried forward tax offset:
- that remained unused by an entity at the time it joins the head company’s consolidated group, or
- that remained unused by an entity, including the head company, where the consolidated group was formed.
Registered
27 May 2016
Purpose
To replace ATO ID 2015/6 and provide guidance more generally on how a joining entity's non-refundable carried forward tax offsets may be accessed and utilised by the head company of the joined consolidated group.
Expected completion
To be advised
[3799] Family trust distribution tax – meaning of 'distributes'
Title
Final Taxation Determination
Income tax: is a person who is not a beneficiary of the trust capable of having a distribution made to them for the purposes of section 272-60 of Schedule 2F to the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936
Registered
27 October 2016
Purpose
To clarify the operation of the family trust distribution tax rules where distributions, within the meaning of sections 272-45 and 272-60 of Schedule 2F to the ITAA 1936, are made to persons other than a beneficiary.
Expected completion
October 2017
Comments
TD 2017/D1 published on 8 June 2017.
[3814] Meaning of ‘alteration, extension or improvement’ in Division 43 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997
Title
Draft Taxation Ruling
Income tax: the meaning of the phrase ‘alteration, extension or improvement’ as it appears in Division 43 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.
Registered
6 September 2016
Purpose
To assist taxpayers in determining whether there is an extension, alteration or improvement for the purposes of the capital works deductions. This in turn may have implications for the deductibility of those expenses under another provision of the ITAA 1997.
Expected completion
To be advised
Comments
Follow-up consultation was undertaken in December 2016 with stakeholders in response to comments that were provided during the initial consultation.
See also finalised consultation matter [201603].
[3830] Commercial transactions - payments or loans made by private companies to an interposed entity
Title
Final Taxation Determination
Income Tax: Division 7A: can section 109T of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 apply to a payment or loan made by a private company to another entity (the ‘first interposed entity’) where that payment or loan is an ordinary commercial transaction?
Registered
April 2017
Purpose
To reflect the views in ATO ID 2011/104.
Expected completion
November 2017
Comments
TD 2017/D3 published on 28 June 2017.
[3836] Employee share scheme arrangements – tax treatment of dividend equivalent payments
Title
Final Taxation Determination
Income tax: when will a dividend equivalent payment, made by a trustee under an employee share scheme that delivers ESS interests taxed by Subdivision 83A-B or 83A-C of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 be assessable as remuneration under section 6-5?
Title
Final Practical Compliance Guideline
Dividend equivalent payments made by a trustee under an employee share scheme
Registered
8 June 2017
Purpose
To provide advice on how the law applies to certain cash payments (‘dividend equivalent payments’) made by a trustee to an employee who is participating in an employee share scheme.
Expected completion
October 2017
Comments
TD 2017/D2 and PCG 2017/D9 were published on 8 June 2017
See also finalised consultation matter [201738]. Considering comments received during the consultation period, when the final Determination is issued it will apply to dividend equivalent payments where they are paid under the terms and conditions attached to ESS interests issued on or after 1 January 2018.
[3840] Deductibility of seismic data under section 40-25 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997)
Title
Draft Taxation Determination
Income tax: will expenditure incurred by service providers in collecting and processing seismic data which is then licensed on a non-exclusive basis to multiple clients in the mining, oil and gas industries be deductible under section 40 25 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997)?
Registered
18 January 2017
Purpose
To clarify deductions for mining industry service providers who license on seismic data on a non-exclusive basis.
Expected completion
13 December 2017
Comments
The draft is currently undergoing internal review.
[3846] Business continuity test – carrying on a similar business
Title
Final Law Companion Guideline
The business continuity test – carrying on a similar business
Registered
July 2017
Purpose
LCG 2017/D6 provides guidance on what ‘carrying on a similar business’ means for the purposes of the new 'similar business test' introduced by the Treasury Laws Amendment (2017 Enterprise Incentives No. 1) Bill 2017. Under this new test, a company will be able to utilise tax losses made from carrying on a business against income derived from carrying on a similar business following a change in ownership or control.
Expected completion
To be advised
Comments
LCG 2017/D6 was published on 21 July 2017
[3849] Deductibility of interest expenses incurred – beneficiaries of discretionary trusts
Title
Draft Taxation Ruling
Income tax: Deductibility of interest expenses incurred by beneficiaries of discretionary trusts.
Registered
March 2017
Purpose
To confirm our view about when the beneficiary of a discretionary trust can deduct interest expenses incurred in relation to amounts borrowed and on-lent to the trustee
Expected completion
October 2017
[3857] Treatment of payments for use of an individual's 'public fame' or 'image'
Title
Final Practical Compliance Guideline
Taxation treatment of payments for use and exploitation of a professional sportsperson's 'public fame' or 'image'
Registered
18 April 2016
Purpose
To set out a ‘Safe Harbour’ for apportioning single payments for, in combination, the provision of a professional sportsperson’s services and the use or exploitation of their ‘public fame’ or ‘image’ under licence.
Expected completion
To be advised
Comments
PCG 2017/D11 published on 19 July 2017. Comments on the draft closed 1 September 2017. Work is currently underway to review and update the PCG in light of comments.
[3865] MAAL – directly in connection with supply
Title
Draft Taxation Determination
Income tax: what does ‘directly in connection with the supply’ mean in sub-paragraph 177DA(1)(a)(ii) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936?
Registered
May 2017
Purpose
To provide guidance on when activities undertaken in Australia will be directly in connection with a supply by a foreign entity under the Multinational Anti-Avoidance Law.
Expected completion
1 November 2017
Comment
The draft is currently undergoing internal review.
[3875] Deceased estates
Title
Final Practical Compliance Guideline
Income tax: liability of a legal personal representative of a deceased person
Registered
28 June 2017
Purpose
To assist in providing certainty to Legal Personal Representatives (LPR) of smaller deceased estates when making distributions to beneficiaries as regards to later tax claims on the estate that could make them personally liable. The Guidance is intended to give the LPR’s an understanding of what they can do to ensure that the Commissioner of Taxation will not seek to obtain estate taxation liability amounts of the estate from the LPR after they have distributed estate assets.
Expected completion
26 October 2017
Comments
PCG 2017/D12 published on 5 July 2017. We are working with relevant internal stakeholders (including Tax Counsel Network and Operational Policy, Assurance and Law) on analysing feedback and consulting with feedback providers and relevant parties.
[3876] Nexus for determining whether a depreciating asset is first used for exploration or prospecting
Title
Draft Taxation Determination
Income tax: what is the relevant nexus for determining whether a depreciating asset is first used for exploration or prospecting for the purposes of section 40-80 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997?
Registered
13 June 2017
Purpose
To outline the relevant nexus for determining a depreciating asset is first used for exploration or prospecting for the purposes of section 40-80 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.
Expected completion
To be advised
[3877] What constitutes ‘use’ for the purposes of section 40-80 of the ITAA 1997?
Title
Draft Taxation Determination
Income tax: what constitutes ‘use’ (and potentially first use) of a mining, quarrying or prospecting right, that is a depreciating asset, for the purposes of subsection 40-80(1) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997?
Registered
13 June 2017
Purpose
To outline what constitutes ‘use’ (and potentially first use) of a mining quarrying and prospecting right for the purposes of section 40-80 of the ITAA 1997.
Expected completion
To be advised
[3885] Trust splitting
Issue
Income tax: trust splitting
Registered
13 September 2017
Purpose
To provide our view on the tax implications of arrangements that are commonly referred to as ‘trust splitting’, in particular whether splitting the trust causes capital gains tax event E1 to occur.
‘Trust splitting’ is a common term for an arrangement that has the result of separating the control over trust assets between different trustees, which in turn allows control (and practical administration) of the trust to be split between different interests.
Expected completion
To be advised
Comments
See also Matters under consideration [201744]
[3886] Taxpayer Alerts
Title
Law administration practice statement: Taxpayer Alerts
Registered
13 September 2017
Purpose
To replace PS LA 2008/15 with updated guidance to staff on the process for initiating and issuing a Taxpayer Alert.
Expected completion
To be advised
[3887] Infrastructure privatisation framework
Title
Privatisation and Infrastructure – Australian Federal Tax Framework
Registered
2 March 2015
Purpose
To set out the ATO’s overall position in relation to a range of infrastructure-related tax issues. It is non-binding guidance and intended as a living document, which will be updated as relevant tax laws are amended and new transactions and issues emerge.
Expected completion
31 October 2017
Comment
See also consultation matter [201508]
We are developing advice and guidance on the following income tax issues.