Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury today released for public comment a discussion paper on reforms to the Offshore Banking Unit (OBU) regime.
The changes to the regime were announced in the 2013-14 Budget as part of a package of measures aimed at protecting the integrity of the corporate tax system.
The OBU regime provides a concessional 10 per cent tax rate for certain income from offshore banking activity which is carried on in Australia.
The discussion paper outlines proposals that address integrity issues with the current regime and that better target the tax concession to genuine mobile banking business. The paper also covers recommendations for reform of the OBU regime made in the Australian Financial Centre Forum's report Australia as a Financial Centre: Building on our Strengths ('the Johnson report').
The Assistant Treasurer also announced that the changes will now apply to income earned on or after 1 October 2013. The amended start date came after initial industry consultation, including through the Corporate Tax Sustainability Roundtables.
"The Government will continue to work with industry to ensure that the OBU regime encourages genuine mobile banking business in Australia, while improving the integrity of the regime," said Mr Bradbury.
The Government will provide further detail of the reforms following consultations.
The discussion paper can be found on the Treasury website. Submissions will close on 19 July 2013.