A series of technical tax amendments were introduced in the House of Representatives today in the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2002.
Minister for Revenue and Assistant Treasurer, Senator Helen Coonan, said the Omnibus Bill contained a range of diverse tax measures that were technical but essential for Australian businesses and other taxpayers.
"The majority of measures contained in the Bill are concessional amendments that will assist sections of the Australian businesses community to more effectively structure and manage their tax affairs," Senator Coonan said.
"The Bill also includes some updated anti-avoidance measures to assist the ATO crackdown on tax cheats and some minor drafting amendments."
The measures include:
An amendment to the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 to broaden the class of taxpayers eligible to claim the Senior Australians Tax Offset, including-
- Veterans who were eligible to receive a pension, allowance or benefit under
the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 but did not receive one; and
- persons who were eligible to receive an age pension on alternative grounds
to the residency test.
Amendments to the imputation rules in the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 to take account of the reduction of the company tax rate from 34% to 30%. The measures preserve the value of franking credits accumulated prior to the rate change;
Defer the commencement date of the proposals to tax friendly societies on investment income received that is attributable to funeral policies, scholarship plans and income bonds sold after 30 November 1999. Friendly societies will remain exempt from tax on that income until 30 June 2002. The measure is a consequence of the deferral in the Review of Business Taxation life insurance policyholder proposals;
Amendments to the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 so that neither the intercorporate dividend rebate nor a related deduction are allowed in respect of any unfranked dividends paid to or by a dual resident company;
A range of amendments to the gift provisions of the income tax law to give effect to announcements the Government has made over the past several months that gifts of $2 or more to certain organisations are to be tax deductible;
Amendments to recognise a new demutualisation method for non-insurance mutual entities to qualify them for concessions currently available to members of such entities that demutualise using one of the existing methods;
Amendments to the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 to insert a capital gains tax roll-over for a policyholder/member of a mutual insurance company who becomes absolutely entitled to certain shares held on trust as part of a demutualisation. The amendments will apply from 10 December 1999;
Amendments to the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 to remove scope for double refunds of excess imputation credits to both a trustee and a beneficiary;
Amendments to the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 to cancel refunds of excess imputation credits to non-complying superannuation funds and non-complying approved deposit funds, to prevent credits being used in artificial schemes;
a number of technical and drafting corrections to the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936, the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, Medicare Levy Act 1986 and other tax related legislation.