2022 TA Temporary fuel excise cut and fuel tax credits Excise and excise-equivalent customs duty that applies to petrol and diesel will be temporarily reduced by 50%. Announcement(29-Mar-2022)
The reduction of the fuel excise will be in place for 6 months, beginning at 12:01am on 30 March 2022 and
Consultation
ending at 11:59pm on 28 September 2022.
Introduced(30-Mar-2022)
The new temporary excise rate of 22.1 cents per litre will bring excise below the road user charge for businesses who claim fuel tax credits.
Passed(30-Mar-2022) Royal Assent(31-Mar-2022) Date of effect(30-Mar-2022)
50% minimum pension drawdowns extended for another 12 months Minimum drawdowns for superannuation pensions have been halved again for the 2022–23 income year. This extension means that the reduction of minimum drawdowns will be available for self-funded retirees from 1 July 2019 through 30 June 2023. This measure is intended to support retirees in managing the impact of the:
Announced: 22-Mar-2020 Updated: 12-Apr-2022
recent volatility in financial markets, and prevailing low interest rates on their retirement savings.
Non-commercial losses and the Commissioner’s safe harbour Sole traders and partners in a partnership may be able to utilise a safe harbour to deduct non-commercial losses against other assessable income. The draft PCG bypasses the Commissioner’s discretion under the non-commercial loss rules, where a business has been directly affected by floods, bushfires or the COVID-19 pandemic.
Announcement(11-May-2022) Consultation period(21-Jun-2022) Released
The business will be required to show necessary evidence to support using the safe harbour. Once finalised, the draft guideline will apply to the 2019–20, 2020–21 and 2021–22 income years.
ATO scrutiny of s 100A family trust arrangements On 23 February 2022, the ATO released TR 2022/D1 and PCG 2022/D1 in relation to distributions made by trustees of discretionary trusts. This was complemented by TA 2022/1, which discusses parents benefitting from the trust entitlements of the adult children. All 3 documents focus on schemes where income is diverted from an intended beneficiary in order to reduce tax liabilities. The rulings discuss these at detail and include significant attention to an important carve out for dealings that are “ordinary family or commercial” dealings. These dealings are excluded from
Announcement(23-Feb-2022)
the anti-avoidance provisions.
Consultation period(29-Apr-2022) Released
Following on from the release of the draft guidance, the ATO has reiterated its stance in many areas relating to s 100A. In particular, where situations would generally come under an ordinary family or commercial dealing.Trustees need to make sure that their distributions are in accordance with the expectations of the ATO, otherwise they may be subject to an audit. Helping them understand their obligations is paramount coming up to the end of the current income year.
