Page 1520 - Week 05 - Thursday, 11 May 2006
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beneficiary of the trust. Most trusts structure their affairs to take advantage of this concession.
An issue has arisen whereby commonwealth legislation requires a beneficiary, member, of a self-managed superannuation fund to also be a trustee of the fund. This has the effect of triggering ad valorem duty when a member of a self-managed superannuation fund retires or a new member is appointed as the remaining members are trustees and new members must become trustees of the fund. It is not equitable, nor is it intended, to collect ad valorem duty from self-managed funds while other superannuation funds are able to access concessional duty.
To protect retirement incomes of members of self-managed superannuation funds and to ensure that self-managed superannuation funds are able to access the same concessional duty treatment as other superannuation funds, this bill provides a duty concession for self-managed superannuation funds when a trustee retires or a new trustee is appointed. It is difficult to estimate the impact that this amendment will have on the bottom line, as it is dependent on the turnover of trustees of self-managed superannuation funds that hold dutiable property.
The bill also modernises the Payroll Tax Act to include payments made by means of an instruction to credit an account in payment of wages, such as an electronic transfer of funds, as wages for the purposes of the Payroll Tax Act. This provision clarifies the scope of the existing section, which currently refers to instruments such as cheques or money orders, by including wages paid by an instruction to credit an account, such as an electronic transfer of funds, as wages to which the act applies. Wages paid by an instruction to credit an account are taken to be paid at the place where the account is credited and when the account is credited.
Finally, the bill amends the Taxation Administration Act to provide greater protection of taxpayer information and certainty for tax officers administering the secrecy provisions contained in the act. Section 99 of the act currently seeks to prevent a tax officer from producing “confidential” information and documents to a court unless it is related to the administration or execution of a tax law. The act does not define “confidential”, meaning that tax officers are reliant on the common law definition to determine whether information or documents are confidential or otherwise. This is an ambiguous definition and could lead to circumstances in which a tax officer may or may not release information or documents to a court that the court or taxpayer might consider confidential.
It is desirable to prevent the inappropriate release of taxpayers’ information under the current provisions. It is also desirable to provide certainty for the tax officers who administer tax laws and to prevent litigation on the matter of whether information or documents may or may not be confidential. As such, the bill strengthens section 99 of the act to prevent a tax officer from being required to produce protected information or documents to a court. Protected information and documents are defined in the act to mean information and documents obtained, or also created in the case of documents, in the administration or execution of a tax law.
It should be noted that this amendment does not, and is not intended to, prevent the disclosure of information or documents where it is in the public interest; nor will it
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