Characterising expenditure as revenue or capital - is the distinction becoming clearer?

Copyright © 2014 LexisNexis. This article is made available per the publisher's Content Sharing policy.The recent High Court decision in AusNet Transmission Group Pty Ltd v FCT1 which was an appeal from the Full Federal Court decision known as SPI PowerNet Pty Ltd v FCT2 has again confirmed the general principles concerning the distinction between characterising an expense as revenue or capital. The real issue though appears to relate to how to apply such well known principles to modern commercial situations

The $6 million net asset value test for small business

Copyright © 2014 LexisNexis. This article is made available per the publisher's Content Sharing policy.Taxpayers who seek to disregard a capital gain under the small business capital gains tax (CGT) concessions regime are likely to be audited and those who are not formally audited may face a phone review. The Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO’s) focus on a single aspect of this concessional regime is reflected in issues examined in some recent cases. Small business operators and their advisers need to be vigilant in planning for and applying the $6 million maximum net asset value test ($6 million test), an alternative requirement, within the second of the four basic conditions

Residency and Australians working overseas: can be an expensive lesson in tax law

Copyright © 2015 LexisNexis. This article is made available per the publisher's Content Sharing policy.Residence is important in determining the Australian income tax liability for individuals that are residents (all income sources) and foreign residents (Australian income sources) of ordinary and statutory income.1 In recent times the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) appears to be taking a tough stance on the residence of Australian citizens who travel overseas to work for a period of time, especially where that work is undertaken in countries with low income tax rates. This is evident in a number of cases that have recently been decided by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) on the issue of residence. These cases highlight significant scrutiny by the ATO and the need for such workers to obtain good tax advice, and provide sufficient documentary evidence for the ATO or the AAT as this may be needed to establish the relevant facts

Self-education expenses: some thoughts for taxpayers and their advisers

Copyright © 2014 LexisNexis. This article is made available per the publisher's Content Sharing policy.With the advent of another tax year, the nature and form of self-education expenses come to mind. The income tax return for individuals makes a perceived distinction between forms of education for tax purposes but it may not be that clear for taxpayers and their advisers. Item D4 of the individual tax return allows for taxpayers to make a claim for work related self-education expenses that relate to formal qualifications from a school, college or university. The individual tax return implies that there is a distinction between formal self-education and informal self-education. However when one looks at the relevant Australian Tax Office (ATO) material, this distinction could easily be overlooked

Allowable deductions, cost base of CGT assets and the GAAR: a minefield for taxpayers and their advisers

Copyright © 2014 LexisNexis. This article is made available per the publisher's Content Sharing policy.Taxpayers and their advisers have, for decades, struggled to reconcile outgoings that can be considered as allowable deductions under s 8-1 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth) (ITAA 97), with those outgoings which may be included in the cost base of a Capital Gains Tax (CGT) asset.1 In this article we briefly examine Hart’s case2 and the subsequent Taxation Determination TD 2005/33 issued by the Australian Tax Office (ATO). This Tax Determination sets out the Commissioner’s view regarding the inclusion (or non-inclusion) of non-capital costs of ownership of a CGT asset in its cost base where such outgoings had been previously denied deductibility under the general deduction provisions3 of the ITAA 97 by virtue of the general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) under Pt IVA of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Cth) (ITAA 36)

Assessment and reflection in the service learning arena : an application to the area of revenue law

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Law Teaching in an Ever Changing World: Are We on the Right Track?— Some Reflections and a Case Study from Western Sydney University

The lecture model, however does not appear to sit well with the general acceptance that students need to be actively engaged in the learning process rather than through passive learning. There is also the problem that students can easily find a good deal of such content through internet sites. There is the added expectation from both the student and the university that lecture material be made available through intra web based sites. If lecturing still forms an integral part of the teaching methodology then law teachers need to be careful to structure their lectures in a manner that will enrich the experience for the student. A more structured lecturing approach may include utilising the lecture notes already provided on the web based sites as a starting point to facilitate discussion, to promote critical thinking, and to engage students during classroom time

Using storytelling as a teaching model in a law school : the experience in an Australian context

The law school experience for both student and teacher can be both exciting and yet daunting. The law student may come from a family background where a university education is unknown. The law student may come from a cultural background where the challenges of gaining an education need to be balanced by family or work pressures. For many studying to obtain a law degree it is a time in their lives whereby education, work and family all collide. In essence the law school experience “lies sandwiched between a challenging welcome and an even more challenging farewell”. For the university teacher there is the challenge of teaching students how to think like lawyers, think critically and to provide a bridge between the learning environment of the law school and the practical reality of acting as lawyers upon entry into the legal profession. Underpinning this whole experience is the reality that “individual students learn in different ways”. Law teachers need to, and usually do, acknowledge that their students have different learning preferences. While some are auditory learners, others are visual. Today’s law teachers need to find ways to reach both groups of students

Utilising modern technology to assist communication processes for higher education student group work

Higher Education students are, at times, required to work in a group context. That group will involve working as a team within and outside the classroom. it is necessary for such group members to communicate between themselves to ensure that the set task can be completed. Technology through the World Wide Web, now provides enormous opportunities to assit in that interactive process. There is ready access to YouTube, Facebook and Twitter applications. Through appropriate guidance by the teacher such applications can be used to enable student engagement that can be used outside and then within the classroom when the group presents

Teaching undergraduate law students in the 21st century : pedagogy in a technological era

Teaching to law students in the 21st Century can be a daunting task for any law professor. Students come from different backgrounds, could be the first member of their family to go to university and bring with them varied experiences and exposure with modern technology, social media and the internet. Within this background, modern teaching pedagogy suggests that students need to be actively involved with their learning and that the learning and teaching environment needs to be student centred. This paper focusses on using the pedagogy of storytelling to build a bridge between teaching by law professors and learning for the modern law student in a technological era