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Foreign resident capital gains withholding payments - impacts on foreign and Australian residents

On 9 May 2017, the Government announced changes to the foreign resident capital gains withholding (FRCGW) rate and threshold. The changes will apply to contracts entered into on or after 1 July 2017: for real property disposals where the contract price is $750,000 and above (currently $2 million) the FRCGW withholding tax rate will be 12.5% (currently 10%). The existing threshold and rate will apply for any contracts that are entered into before 1 July 2017, even if they are

GST applies to international sales of services and digital products into Australia (the Netflix tax)

From 1 July 2017, GST will apply to imported services and digital products. If you are an Australian GST registered business, you will not be charged GST on your purchases from a non-resident supplier if you: provide your ABN to the non-resident supplier state you are registered for GST. Examples of imported services and digital products from overseas include: digital products such as streaming or downloading of movies, music, apps, games and e-books services such as architec

GST - removing the double taxation of digital currency

On 9 May 2017, the Government announced that from 1 July 2017 it will align the GST treatment of digital currency (such as Bitcoin) with money. Digital currency is currently treated as intangible property for GST purposes. Consequently, consumers who use digital currencies as payment can effectively bear GST twice: once on the purchase of the digital currency and again on its use in exchange for other goods and services subject to GST. This measure will ensure purchases of di

Improving the small business capital gains tax concessions

On 9 May 2017 the Government announced that it would amend the small business capital gains tax (CGT) concessions to ensure that they can only be accessed in relation to assets used in a small business or ownership interests in a small business. The concessions assist owners of small businesses by providing relief from CGT on assets related to their business, as well as contribute to their retirement savings through the sale of the business. However, some taxpayers are able t

Temporary budget repair levy

As part of the 2014-15 Federal budget the Government announced that it will impose a temporary Budget Repair levy of 2% on that part of a person's taxable income which exceeds $180,000. The levy will apply from 1 July 2014 and apply to the 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 financial years. There will be consequential changes for legislation that reference the top marginal tax rate of 45%.

Improve the transparency of tax debts

The Government has announced that it will allow the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to disclose tax debt information to registered credit reporting bureaus (CRBs). The ATO will only be able to disclose tax debt information of a business where certain criteria are met. The measure will commence from the date of Royal Assent. Providing transparency of overdue tax debts of businesses supports more informed decision making in the business community and seeks to reduce unfair adv

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