Draft legislation dealing with the promotion of tax exploitation schemes has been released for public comment.
The proposed promoter penalties regime is not designed to affect ordinary tax advisers. The intent is to catch tax exploitation schemes that promise taxpayers tax benefits that are not allowable under the existing tax laws. It is aimed at the promoters of schemes that exploit the tax system for personal gain, without facing the risks of tax shortfall penalties and interest charges to which they are exposing scheme participants.
The promoter penalties framework will support the Government's announced changes to self assessment that are aimed at improving taxpayer certainty as well as provide enhanced confidence, fairness and integrity to the tax system. The measures will deter the promotion of tax exploitation schemes without creating significant compliance burdens for legitimate investment arrangements.
The draft legislation and explanatory notes may be found at the following website of the Department of the Treasury www.treasury.gov.au. Submissions concerning the draft legislation should be sent to the Department at promoterpenalties@treasury.gov.au by 2 September 2005.
Media Contac