The ACNC have announced that up to 1,400 ACNC registered charities face deregistration unless they lodge their Annual Information Statement (AIS) by 30 March 2015. Each of these charities has failed to lodge their AIS for 2 consecutive years.  If deregistered, they will no longer be eligible for charity tax concessions including income tax, fringe benefit tax and GST.

In the recent Federal Court case of Krok v Commissioner of Taxation[1] a taxpayer was implied to have waived the right to legal professional privilege by disclosing documents which refer to the purpose and reasoning of legal advice. As a result, the taxpayer may be required to discover documents that would otherwise have been protected.

The Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2014 Measures No 6) Bill 2014 (the Bill) has now been passed by both Houses of Parliament and is expected to receive assent shortly.

Voluntary disclosures relating to the Australian Tax Office’s (ATO) “Project DO IT” initiative must be made before 19 December 2014. 

A recent case in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (Pope v FC, known as Pope’s Case) is of interest to taxpayers and their advisers, with respect to the characterisation of unpaid trust entitlements (UPEs) as loans. 

On 30 July 2014 the Australian Taxation Office issued Taxation Ruling TR 2014/5 (previously released in draft form as TR 2013/D6) addressing the taxation effect of an order by the Family Court under section 79 of the Family Law Act 1975 for a private company to pay money or transfer property to a shareholder or their associate.

In line with its election promise to abolish the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), the Abbott Government has now released Options Paper, Australia’s Charities and Not-for-profits which seeks feedback on its proposed arrangements for charities in Australia. The Government’s proposed arrangements attempt to balance the administrative burden of reporting with the need for organisations receiving concessional tax treatment to be publicly accountable.