ATO advice and guidance; Federal Government consults on Help to Buy program directions; PBO publishes costing on negative gearing, capital gains tax policy reform options; ASIC takes no-action posi...
ATO advice and guidance; Senate Economics Committee releases report on Help to Buy Bill inquiry; ATO update: Discussion paper on thin capitalisation rules for foreign bank branches issued
ATO advice and guidance; Audit finds ATO largely effective at managing taxpayers’ use of transfer pricing for related party debt; ATO update: June concessional lodgement deadline for certain tax re...
Please join us on Tuesday 21 May 2024, for our regular six-monthly update on reporting matters.
Date: Tuesday 21 May 2024
Time: 12:00 PM AEST
Duration: 90 minutes
Register here
This update will focus on preparing for interim and annual financial reporting at 30 June 2024 and highlight:
new accounting standards effective and available for early adoption and the most recent IFRIC agend...
The Treasury Laws Amendment (Making Multinationals Pay Their Fair Share – Integrity and Transparency) Act 2024 (Amendments) passed both houses of parliament on 27 March 2024 and received Royal Assent on 8 April 2024.
The Amendments change the Corporations Act 2001 and introduce new mandatory disclosures for inclusion in annual financial reports.
Key highlights
The new requi...
Join us the morning after Treasurer Jim Chalmers hands down the 2024 Budget and hear from our distinguished panellists as they discuss what it will mean for you and your business.
The 2024 Budget is expected to set up the Albanese Government’s priorities for their re-election campaign.
We are keen to see what else transpires and look forward to you joining us for this discussion.
Facilitatin...
KPMG has lodged a submission on the primary legislation exposure draft materials and the interactions with other Australian tax laws consultation paper, in relation to the Australian implementation of Pillar Two, released by Treasury on 21 March 2024.
Our briefing note in relation to the draft Australian rules is available here.
The key themes of our submission are outlined below.
Australi...
Three years into the ground-breaking Payment Times Reporting scheme, the Government has this week (on 15 April 2024), released the draft amendments to the Payment Times Reporting Act Bill 2024 (Amendment Bill).
This Bill proposes to amend the Payment Times Reporting Act 2020 to implement some recommendations from the recent two-year Statutory Review of the Payment Times Reporting Act 2020.
Th...
With each new episode, KPMG Talking Tax will delve into a specific topic of interest for tax leaders, breaking down complex concepts into insights you can use, all in under five minutes.
See other episodes:
Talking Tax: Accounting foundation of the GloBE Rules
Talking Tax: Understanding the UN’s involvement in international tax cooperation
Talking Tax: Understanding the GloBE Rules – P...
In recent years, there has been calls for more transparency on how supplier finance arrangements affect an entity’s liquidity risk, cash flows and financial liabilities.
In response, the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) amended AASB 107 Statement of Cash Flows and AASB 7 Financial Instruments: Disclosures to require disclosures about supplier finance arrangements.
These new disclo...
United States consumers opened their wallets in March.
Retail sales rose 0.7 percent, above the consensus expectation of 0.4 percent.
February retail sales were revised upward to 0.9 percent from 0.6 percent.
Although the March report contained a number of categories that fell, the categories that rose punched above their weight.
Milder temperatures influenced the sales for certain items in...
United States’ (US) inflation came in hot.
The consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.4 percent in March, the same increase as February and above the consensus expectation for a 0.3 percent increase.
Higher energy prices and shelter costs contributed to about half of the rise in inflation, similarly to last month.
Fuel prices rose 1.7 percent and housing costs increased 0.4 percent. The CPI index...
Treasury has released for consultation exposure draft legislation to implement the previously announced build-to-rent (BTR) concessions for reduced withholding tax (WHT) rates under the Managed Investment Trusts (MIT) regime and accelerated capital works deductions.
The draft legislation is broadly in line with the initial announcement, however there have been some additional requi...
It is time to lock in the assistance and resources required to get your ESS reporting done right!
Australian ESS reporting requirements
Employers have an annual obligation to report taxable Employee Share Scheme (ESS) events – this covers all forms of equity compensation, such as shares, performance rights and options.
Unlike many other countries, where ESS income is required to be reported ...
The March Quarter 2024 edition of KPMG's Super Tax News covers latest key superannuation tax updates including:
changes to the tax treatment of financial advice fees;
ATO guidance on the eligibility of super funds to claim GST reduced input tax credits on adviser service fees;
changes to Stage 3 personal tax cuts;
changes to the superannuation contribution caps; and
draft regulations on ...
Payroll employment in the United States (US) rose by 303,000, after being revised up over the previous two months by 22,000.
The three and six-month moving averages on employment have now risen to 276,000 to 244,000 in the first quarter, respectively; that compares to 212,000 and 213,000 for those same figures in the fourth quarter.
Much of the gains were supply driven, buoyed by a catch-up i...
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO), on 4 April 2024, published the 2024 Reportable Tax Position schedule (RTPS) instructions which are applicable for taxpayers lodging their 2023-2024 Income Tax Return (ITR), including taxpayers who have an early December balancing date (i.e. income years ended 31 December 2023).
As a reminder, taxpayers are required to lodge a RTPS where total business...
The climate-related financial disclosures bill was introduced into Parliament on 27 March 2024: Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Market Infrastructure and Other Measures) Bill 2024 – see Schedule 4.
Given the Parliamentary timetable, debate will be in May 2024 at the earliest.
The Bill is largely consistent with Treasury’s exposure draft legislation released in January 2024. The main change...
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO), on 27 March 2024, published revisions to the Top 1000 Combined Assurance Review (CAR) Program.
The revisions seek to:
rebase the taxpayer population that forms the Top 1000 population; and
provide a differentiated review experience between higher and lower assurance taxpayers.
The Justified Trust (JT) program has always included a premise that taxpay...
The United States’ (US) personal consumption expenditure (PCE) index rose 0.3 percent in February, slightly slower than the revised 0.4 percent pace of January.
The overall PCE edged up slightly to 2.5 percent from a year ago compared to 2.4 percent in January.
The three- and six-month annualised paces, which better measure momentum, were more worrisome for the Federal Reserve.
The three-mon...
The ASX Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations were last updated in 2019.
Investor and community expectations have evolved significantly over the past five years, particularly with respect to corporate conduct, culture, risk management, stakeholder relationships, reporting, and key management personnel remuneration.
The ASX Corporate Governance Council, on 27 February 2024, relea...
The latest monthly consumer price index (CPI) figures – with inflation in February remaining steady at 3.4 percent - reaffirms KPMG’s view that the inflation surge is now over and, despite the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) cautious ‘nothing’s off the table’ message, the next interest rate move will be down – the question now is just when.
The February CPI data incorporates a lot more infor...
This report represents KPMG United States’s analysis of the Biden Administration’s tax proposals provided in the General Explanations of the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2025 Revenue Proposals, prepared by the Department of the Treasury, released on 11 March 2024.
See related article: US Treasury releases ‘Green Book’ explanation of tax proposals in FY 2025 budget
This US Treasury document, b...
The Court in Mylan considered the income tax treatment of related party debt provided by an offshore parent to an Australian holding company in association with the acquisition of a USD 6.7 billion third party generic pharmaceutical business in 2007.
The Commissioner originally advanced his case in respect of the amended assessments on the basis of the transfer pricing (TP) and Part IVA provis...
The Australian Government, on 21 March 2024, released a draft legislative package implementing the Pillar Two Global Anti-Base Erosion (GloBE) rules in Australia.
The Australian GloBE rules include the following:
an Income Inclusion Rule (IIR) which will apply for income years starting on or after
1 January 2024;
a domestic minimum top-up tax (DMT) which will apply for income years ...
By way of background, in May 2023, as part of the 2023-2024 Budget, the Victorian Government announced the abolition of stamp duty on commercial and industrial property, and the introduction of the Commercial and Industrial Property Tax (CIPT).
See related article: Victorian Budget 2023
Following industry and business consultation, further details were released by the Victorian Government on ...
In a global economy where multinational groups (MNEs) often operate across multiple jurisdictions, ensuring fair taxation has become a paramount concern for governments worldwide.
Australia, like many other countries, is taking significant steps towards enhancing tax transparency through the introduction of public country-by-country (CbC) reporting for MNEs.
With the release of revised draft le...
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) - the policy making arm of the United States (US) Federal Reserve - decided to unanimously overnight to hold rates steady at 5.25 percent to 5.50 percent in March.
The statement following the meeting was changed very little.
The notable change was a line arguing that employment was moderating; it sees underlying growth in the economy as more resilient ...
The Draft Taxation Determination 2024/D1 – Income tax: hybrid mismatch rules – application of certain aspects of the ‘liable entity’ and ‘hybrid payer’ definitions (Draft TD) outlines an expansive interpretation of two concepts underlying the "hybrid payer mismatch" provisions, with United States (US) multinationals likely to be significantly impacted.
The potential impact of the views express...
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has kept the cash rate at 4.35 percent as expected but the crucial question remains - when will it pull the trigger on rate cuts?
March’s statement contains an element of ambiguity which makes it too difficult to assess.
The market has been readjusting its expectations on the cash rate pathway – previously anticipating three 25 basis point cuts over t...
In this webinar, our KPMG subject matter experts discuss the legislative changes affecting workforces in Australia and abroad.
We then look at how organisations can design and map their workforce goals, attract and retain the very best talent, while remaining compliant and avoiding unnecessary overheads.
In this webinar we cover:
Global mobility and expansion;
Immigration legislation chan...
With each new episode, KPMG Talking Tax will delve into a specific topic of interest for tax leaders, breaking down complex concepts into insights you can use, all in under 5 minutes.
See other episodes:
Talking Tax: Understanding the GloBE Rules – Part 1
Talking Tax: January 2024 OECD working paper
Talking Tax: Modification of transfer pricing guidelines
Talking Tax: OECD docum...
The Full Federal Court (Besanko, Colvin and Hespe JJ) handed down its appeal decision in Minerva Financial Group Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Taxation [2024] FCAFC 28 (Minerva) on 8 March 2024.
The decision provides a useful summary of the principles to be applied in considering the application of the general anti-avoidance provision in Part IVA.
See related article: Part IVA decision on stapled...
The United Sates (US) Treasury Department has released the ‘Green Book’, which contains explanation of the tax proposals in the Biden Administration’s FY 2025 budget.
Most of the Administration’s revenue proposals are familiar, having been included in previous budgets.
However, the Administration is unveiling new proposals in a few areas including proposals to increase in the corporate altern...
The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023-24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill (May 2023 Tax Bill), in New Zealand’s parliament, has been reported back by the Finance and Expenditure Committee, with a number of recommendations.
The Bill was introduced by the previous NZ Labour Government in May 2023 and reinstated by the Coalition Government following last year’s election.
39 percent t...
The Unites States’ consume price index (CPI) rose 0.4 percent in February, a slight acceleration from January.
The year-over-year measure rose 3.2 percent from a year ago, up from 3.1 percent last month.
Prices at the fuel pump rebounded, which dampened consumer attitudes in February.
Shelter costs moderated a bit from last month, but remained elevated.
The larger issue for the Federal Rese...
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) website was updated on 25 January 2024 to provide taxpayers with a single point of reference for its current guidance in respect of the hybrid mismatch rules (the hybrid rules).
The ATO update provides a useful compilation and summary of all legislation, amendments and supporting material previously issued (including law companion rulings, taxatio...
The Full Federal Court judgement relating to the appeal from the 2021 decision in Singapore Telecom Australia Investments Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Taxation was handed down today, with Justice Wigney, Justice Banks-Smith, and Justice Colvin finding in favour of the Commissioner of Taxation.
The case related to AUD (Australian dollars) $5.2 billion of cross-border related party Loan Notes provi...
The latest gross domestic product (GDP) figures for the final quarter of 2023 have confirmed what we knew - that growth is weak and patchy across the country.
It also confirmed that economic activity in aggregate is virtually standing still and continuing to go backwards on a per capita basis.
Seasonally-adjusted real GDP grew in the December quarter by only 0.2 percent, compared to a slightl...
Our submission emphasises the necessity of global consistency in tax transparency reporting.
While the revised exposure draft (ED) aligns with European Union (EU) and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) standards to a commendable extent, further coordination is required to prevent unnecessary compliance burdens and ensure uniformity across jurisdictions.
See related a...
Our next quarterly superannuation and estate planning update will take place on 21 March 2024.
Fresh from presenting at the National SMSF Adviser conference, Julie Dolan - Partner, KPMG Enterprise, Head of Super and Estate Planning will discuss some of the recent announcements, cases and contribution strategies for SMSF owners to consider leading up to the end of the financial year.
For the s...
KPMG Law’s Tax Dispute Resolution & Controversy team has successfully assisted Hannover Life Re of Australasia Ltd (Hannover) in defending the appeal brought by the Commissioner of Taxation against the decision of the primary judge (Stewart J) in Hannover Life Re of Australasia Ltd v Commissioner of Taxation [2023] FCA 680.
See related article: Federal Court partially sides with taxpayer i...
