The Minister for Revenue and Assistant Treasurer, Peter Dutton MP, today released a discussion paper examining options for reforming liability discretions in the income tax law.
Following recommendation 6.3 of the Review of Aspects of Income Tax Self Assessment, Treasury has examined those provisions in the tax law that give the Commissioner of Taxation a discretion to determine a taxpayer’s liability, in order to identify those that create unnecessary uncertainty for taxpayers and tax professionals.
The Government is committed to providing greater certainty for taxpayers and tax professionals wherever possible. The discussion paper advances the Government’s objective by proposing a methodology to replace the type of discretions which must be exercised by the Commissioner of Taxation before a correct tax return can be lodged. It proposes replacing these discretions with objective tests that a taxpayer can apply when they lodge their tax return.
The Government is seeking submissions from interested parties on the proposals and issues set out in the discussion paper.
Submissions should be sent by 31 August 2007 to:
General Manager
Tax System Review Division
The Treasury
Langton Crescent
PARKES ACT 2600
Submissions can also be emailed to: discretions@treasury.gov.au.
Copies of the discussion paper are available from the Treasury website at http://www.treasury.gov.au.