ATO Interpretative Decision

ATO ID 2001/692 (Withdrawn)

Income Tax

Capital Gains Tax - Marriage Breakdown - Court order to repay balance of loan
FOI status: may be released
  • This ATO ID is withdrawn from the database as it is a simple restatement of the law and does not contain an interpretative decision.
    This document incorporates revisions made since original publication. View its history and amending notices, if applicable.

CAUTION: This is an edited and summarised record of a Tax Office decision. This record is not published as a form of advice. It is being made available for your inspection to meet FOI requirements, because it may be used by an officer in making another decision.

This ATOID provides you with the following level of protection:

If you reasonably apply this decision in good faith to your own circumstances (which are not materially different from those described in the decision), and the decision is later found to be incorrect you will not be liable to pay any penalty or interest. However, you will be required to pay any underpaid tax (or repay any over-claimed credit, grant or benefit), provided the time limits under the law allow it. If you do intend to apply this decision to your own circumstances, you will need to ensure that the relevant provisions referred to in the decision have not been amended or repealed. You may wish to obtain further advice from the Tax Office or from a professional adviser.

Issue

Is the taxpayer entitled to a deduction under either section 8-1 or section 12-5 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997) or a capital loss under Division 104 of the ITAA 1997 for the repayment of the balance of a loan subsequent to a court order?

Decision

No. The taxpayer is not entitled to a deduction under either section 8-1 or 12-5 of the ITAA 1997 or to a capital loss under Division 104 of the ITAA 1997 for the amount of the payment of the balance of the loan.

This sentence is amended to replace the words "the annual payment" with "the payment of the balance of the loan".

Facts

The taxpayer was granted a divorce subject to provisions of the Minutes of a Court Order. The taxpayer is required to repay the outstanding balance of a loan secured by a mortgage over jointly owned property.

This sentence is amended to replace the words "pay the former spouse a sum of money by annual instalments." with "repay the outstanding balance of a loan secured by a mortgage over jointly owned property."

The payment was funded from the income of the taxpayer's business.

This sentence is amended to replace the words "installments will be" with "payment was"

Reasons for Decision

Paragraph 8-1(a) of the ITAA 1997 provides that the amount of any loss or outgoing can be deducted from assessable income provided that:

it is incurred in gaining or producing assessable income; or
it is necessarily incurred in carrying on a business for the purpose of gaining or producing assessable income.

Subsection 8-1(2) of the ITAA 1997 however does not allow a loss or outgoing to the extent that it is of capital, or of a capital nature or of a private or domestic nature.

The taxpayer incurred the expenditure neither in gaining or producing assessable income nor in carrying on a business. The payment is of a private or domestic nature.

Section 12-5 of the ITAA 1997 does not contain any specific provision that allows a deduction for an amount paid in these circumstances.

Division 104 of the ITAA 1997 contains all the CGT events that can give rise to a capital gain or loss. The facts mentioned do not lead to the operation of any of these CGT events and there is no capital loss available in these circumstances.

Date of decision:  21 September 2001

Year of income:  Year ending 30 June 2002

Legislative References:
Income Tax Assessment Act 1997
   Section 8-1
   Paragraph 8-1(2)(a)
   Paragraph 8-1(2)(b)
   Section 8-5
   Section 12-5
   Division 104

Keywords
Capital gains tax
Capital losses
CGT events
Deductions & expenses
Family law
Family settlements & arrangements
Marriage breakdown
Ordinary course of business

Business Line:  Centres of Expertise Capital Gains Tax

Date of publication:  30 November 2001

ISSN: 1445-2782

history
  Date: Version:
  21 September 2001 Original statement
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