New Principal Income Tax Regulations for Commonwealth
Friday 11 September 2015 @ 12.37 p.m. | Legal Research | Taxation
The Commonwealth Parliament recently notified (9 September 2015) new regulations which, according to the explanatory materials, "remake the Income Tax Regulations 1936, simplif[y] language, restructure provisions to improve readability and update for modern instrument drafting techniques."
Background to the Regulations
According to the RE:Think Tax Discussion Paper (delivered in March 2015), the Federal Government wants to have "an open and constructive conversation with the community on how we can create a better tax system that delivers taxes that are lower, simpler, fairer."
According to the discussion paper, part of the opportunities identified to change the current tax system include opportunities to simplify and modernise the current legislation. The new Commonwealth Regulations are designed to ensure that " tax design and administration practices minimise unnecessary complexity and support the implementation of sound tax policy."
Income Tax Assessment (1936 Act) Regulation 2015 (No. 155 of 2015)
The Income Tax Assessment (1936 Act) Regulation 2015 (No. 155 of 2015) (the Regulation) and the Income Tax and Other Laws (Repeal and Consequential Amendments) Regulation 2015 (No. 156 of 2015) (the Consequential Regulation) were both notified on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments on 9 September 2015, commencing yesterday (10 September 2015).
The Regulation remakes the Income Tax Regulations 1936 and simplifies language, restructures provisions to improve readability and updates the Regulation for modern instrument drafting techniques. For example, as highlighted in the explanatory statement, provisions in new principal instruments are now referred to as ‘sections’ rather than ‘regulations’, and principal instruments are now referred to as ‘Regulation’ rather than ‘Regulations’.
The Consequential Regulation repeals the Income Tax Regulations 1936 and updates cross-references to the Income Tax Regulations 1936 in the Income Tax Assessment Regulations 1997, the Retirement Savings Accounts Regulations 1997 and the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Regulations 1994.
The Regulation covers the following areas:
- Part 2—Liability to taxation;
- Part 3—Income;
- Part 4—Deductions;
- Part 5—Rebates;
- Part 6—Returns and assessments;
- Part 7—Public officers;
- Part 8—Attribution of income in respect of controlled foreign companies; and
- Part 9—Application and transitional provisions.
The Regulation applies to the 2015-16 year of income and later years of income.
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Sources:
Income Tax Assessment (1936 Act) Regulation 2015 (No. 155 of 2015) and explanatory materials, as reproduced on TimeBase LawOne and other related instruments
