Monthly Archives: December 2015
Fairfax at it again
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
Arrr, the Greens
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
Innovation Tax Changes
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
GST for non-residents made easy
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
What are we waiting for…
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
What a waste of time
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
