Apple’s Australian tax bill more than doubled last year after 12 months of strong profits but flat revenue.
The local operation, Apple Pty Ltd, paid out $80.3 million in income tax in its last financial year, an increase of $43.9 million (121 percent) over the $36.4 million it coughed up in the previous year, according to its annual report to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
The tax hike came courtesy of a major increase in pre-tax profit, which hit $251.9 million, a rise of $163.4 million (184.6 percent) from $88.5 million.
The fluctuating Aussie dollar was the big factor in the rise: Apple booked an unrealised foreign exchange gain of $106.4 million in the 2014 financial year, up significantly from a $46.9 million loss the previous year.
An Apple Australia spokesperson agreed that currency fluctuations had an effect on its results, and declined to comment further.
Apple is one of a number of technology companies currently under scrutiny locally and internationally for its taxation practices.
“The majority of profit that should be taxed in Australia is shifted to Ireland. And that profit is not subject to tax in Ireland or anywhere in the world,” University of Sydney taxation law lecturer Dy Antony Ting told CRN following Apple’s 2013 annual report.
The Australian Tax Office last week revealed it has investigated 25 international technology companies over the past 18 months for tax avoidance as part of its ongoing crackdown on elaborate cross-border tax structures and profit shifting.
The ATO was given extra resources by the Government last year to embed auditors within the local offices of multinational companies in order to stamp out the use of legal loopholes that allow global enterprises such as Google and Apple to minimise the amount of tax they pay in Australia.
Treasurer Joe Hockey at the time said Australia was missing out on up to $3 billion as a result of these schemes. Corporate tax is the second-largest source of federal government revenue in Australia behind income tax.
This news story is reprinted from www.itnews.com.au
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Prime Minister Tony Abbott claims Labor has ‘let the cat out of the bag’ and revealed potential plans to hike taxes if elected into government.
Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen has declared the era of ‘Santa Claus’ politics over, admitting tough decisions would have to be made to return the budget to surplus.
The Australian people don’t believe in an opposition that pretends to return to surplus without spending cuts and tax increases, he said.
Mr Abbott is calling on Labor to reveal its tough decisions instead of merely blocking budget measures such as the Medicare changes in the Senate.
Opposition leader Bill Shorten says he will release Labor’s tax policies ‘in good time’ before the 2016 election but prefers targeting big business over GP taxes and university overhauls.
This news story is reprinted from www.skynews.com.au
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Anti-gambling campaigners have slammed the NSW opposition’s plan to more than halve taxes on racing bets.

The tax on every $100 wagered would be slashed from $3.22 to $1.28 should Labor win the March election, bringing the state into line with Victoria, leader Luke Foley says.

Reverend Tim Costello, chief of World Vision Australia, says gambling is already out of control.

“One way of at least bringing back some benefits from this complete loss of control is taxation,” he told AAP.

“It places a cap on gambling, discourages it and returns some benefits to the community.

“The public good is not served by cutting gambling taxes.”

He suggested the racing industry could be better served by raising taxes on competing forms of gambling.

NSW Greens MP John Kaye said the racing industry doesn’t deserve a tax break.

“This is public money feeding problem gambling and facilitating the mistreatment of animals,” he said.

Mr Foley has said the predicted $100 million a year loss in revenue would be offset by the generation of 2000 jobs in the racing industry.

Premier Mike Baird has said he will consider a possible gambling tax cut in the June budget.

This news story is reprinted from au.news.yahoo.com

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The Australian Capital Territory Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT) has lowered the penalty tax for a couple who operated an investment property while living overseas, but found that being unaware of a tax was no excuse for a failure to pay.
In 2012, Geoffrey Wade and Siew Imm Tan were living in Singapore due to personal circumstances. In April that year, they used an agent, PRD Nationwide, to rent out their Australian property. For two years, from May 2012 to May 2014, the property was leased, and they were liable to pay land tax for the two years.
Neither the couple nor their agent notified the state tax department of the rental agreement within the required 30 days of its commencement. Once the couple were aware of their tax liability, in early 2014, they began paying the land tax off immediately, in installments.
The Commissioner for ACT Revenue decided to impose a penalty tax on Wade and Tan above the default 25% of unpaid tax, at 50%. The 50% rate usually applies if the taxpayer isn’t able to provide a reasonable excuse for failing to pay their land tax, and the mistake was caused by a failure of the taxpayer to take reasonable care.
If a taxpayer intentionally disregards tax law, they are usually charged a penalty at 75% of the unpaid tax. The penalty rate can increase to 90% in certain circumstances.
Wade and Tan disputed the 50% penalty rate, arguing that their agent, acting on their behalf, should have notified ACT Revenue that their property was being rented.
They contended that the legislation which saw them incur a penalty of 50% was irrelevant, as it referred to an owner that had not notified the Commissioner of a rental property, not an agent that had not notified the Commissioner.
However, the Commissioner argued that owners were still responsible for declaring a rental property, even in the case where there has been a failure to do so by the agent. Tan and Wade, it was contended, had failed to take reasonable care, and had an obligation to independently figure out their tax obligations.
Ultimately, the Tribunal considered the couple’s exceptional circumstances: Tan and Wade had to remain overseas, were unable to access mail from the Commissioner, and had been let down by their agent (who did not appear as a witness). It also noted that Tan and Wade had not heard of land tax, and upon realising they had a tax obligation, immediately began paying their land tax.
It was, however, also noted that the couple had failed to take reasonable steps to ensure they met their tax obligations, and that they couldn’t receive a full remission of their penalty tax.
The Tribunal decided to remit 40% of the penalty tax imposed, which meant they were required to pay a 40% penalty tax, rather than the 50% sought by ACT Revenue.
This news story is reprinted from www.propertyobserver.com.au
The Abbott government is considering changes to migration rules that would allow local firms to employ skilled foreigners for as long as a year without applying for the 457 skilled worker visa, The Australian Financial Review reports.
The new temporary visa proposal from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection would also reportedly allow foreign workers to bypass language and skills requirements and remove requirements for companies to prove the position cannot be filled by a local.
Should the government proceed with such a plan it will likely be warmly welcomed by employers, but derided by unions.
“There are already significant problems with graduate employment in professions such as dentistry, computer science, medicine and engineering,” skilled migration researcher Bob Birrell told the AFR.
“Liberalisation such that being mooted is going to crash head-on with that situation. The government is going to have some angry professional associations on its hands.”
This news story is reprinted from www.businessspectator.com.au
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