Monthly Archives: December 2015

Fairfax at it again

Posted on December 28, 2015 by

The report will I think make it almost impossible politically for this government to sell its austerity program or its GST “reform” proposals. The mantra that Australia has a spending problem, not a revenue problem, looks hollow in the light … Continue reading →

Posted in Funny Stuff | Leave a comment

Arrr, the Greens

Posted on December 14, 2015 by

The Greens have done it again. When you put out a press release titled “Axing just 4 unfair tax breaks would plug Budget revenue hole” you are going to get me excited. With a yearly budget deficit of $35-40 billion I was … Continue reading →

Posted in Tax Policy | Leave a comment

Innovation Tax Changes

Posted on December 9, 2015 by

Why does “innovation” have anything to do with tax changes? In the Government’s Innovation Statement most of the expenditure is making tax changes. Tax is a revenue raising device… Not a method to change people’s actions. When you use tax … Continue reading →

Posted in Income Tax, Legislation, Planning Stuff, Tax Policy | Leave a comment

GST for non-residents made easy

Posted on December 9, 2015 by

It has been out for a while, but there is some draft law that proposes big changes to GST. The first part of the draft Tax Laws Amendment (GST treatment of Cross-Border Transactions) Bill is exactly as we expected… The … Continue reading →

Posted in GST, Legislation | Leave a comment

What are we waiting for…

Posted on December 9, 2015 by

Each December I try to wrap up the year with the tax promises that have not quite made it into law. While the list has VERY, VERY SLOWLY, getting shorter, there are still a number of measures that are yet … Continue reading →

Posted in Legislation, Tax Policy | Leave a comment

What a waste of time

Posted on December 3, 2015 by

It is stupid tax policy made worse… From 1 July 2016 there will be a 10% non-final withholding tax on payments made to foreign residents that dispose of certain  property. The effect of this will be that where a foreign … Continue reading →

Posted in Income Tax, Tax Policy | 2 Comments