Newsletter
June Newsletter
Protection from announced but un-enacted tax changes
Treasury has released draft legislation that seeks to implement the government's announcement that it would legislate to protect taxpayers in relation to previously announced but un-enacted tax amendments. The government had previously stated on 6 November 2013 that "there will be legislated protection for any taxpayer who has self-assessed with announced changes that the government will not proceed with".
The draft proposes to amend the tax law to introduce a protection provision to ensure that tax outcomes are preserved in relation to income tax assessments in specified circumstances. This protection operates primarily by placing a statutory bar on the Commissioner amending an income tax assessment to the extent that it reflects a taxpayer's anticipation of the impact of a prior announcement that was then later scrapped (and that meets other conditions set out in the legislation).