ATTA News September 2016
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ATTA News September 2016 https://www.business.unsw.edu.au/about/schools/taxation-business-law/australasian-tax- teachers-association/newsletters Editor: Colin Fong, UNSW Law, UNSW Australia, Sydney [email protected] ATTA website: https://www.business.unsw.edu.au/about/schools/taxation-business- law/australasian-tax-teachers-association Contents 1 Presidential column 1 2 ATTA’s 29th Annual Conference 2 3 OUP ATTA Doctoral Series 2016 2 4 New Zealand developments 3 5 Vacancies 4 6 Graham Hill IFA Research Prize 6 7 Tax and Transfer Policy Institute Visiting Fellow Awards 2017 7 8 Call for papers 8 9 Recent Australian tax cases 8 10 Tax and related meetings 11 11 Recent publications 15 12 Quotable quotes 19 1 Presidential column Spring has certainly arrived with warmer days and more colour in the gardens. This also means that the end of semester is only weeks away, bringing with it the realisation that exam marking will follow, and soon afterwards the end of another academic year. Most importantly this means that the next ATTA Conference is not far away. As mentioned later in this Newsletter, the Call for Papers has been extended until the end of this month. For anyone who may have missed the earlier closing date then you have a short period to send in your abstract to the organising team. Nominations for the PhD student scholarship applications for a waiver of the registration fee have closed. The ATTA Executive will be reviewing these with successful nominees advised by early October. Conference registrations are open with the Super Early Bird closing date not far away. This Newsletter contains details for a number of other upcoming conferences, congresses and symposiums. In addition to planning on attending ATTA, I would encourage members to look for other opportunities to present their research and to network with colleagues. Please also encourage those who have recently completed their doctoral dissertation to consider submitting their dissertation for the OUP ATTA Doctoral series. Further details are included in the Newsletter. The 30 Years of GST in New Zealand Conference that was held on the 1 September 2016 was, in my slightly biased view, an excellent event. The Conference was opened by Sir Roger Douglas and Dr Don Brash, followed by 11 presentations from academics, barristers, officials and practitioners. My congratulations go to Mark Keating and his team at the University of Auckland for ensuring this initiative was a great success. Most of the papers will be published in the March 2017 issue of the New Zealand Journal of Taxation Law and Policy. Adrian Sawyer 1 2 ATTA’s 29th Annual Conference The School of Accounting and Commercial Law at Victoria University of Wellington will host the Australasian Tax Teachers’ Association’s 29th Annual Conference. The theme of the conference is “Tax and Society”. The conference will take place at the Copthorne Hotel and Resort, Solway Park in Masterton from 18 to 20 January 2017. Masterton is in the Wairarapa, a beautiful winemaking region 95kms north of Wellington. We have had some approaches for extra time to submit an abstract for the conference. Therefore, we will accept late submissions up to the end of September. Please email Lisa Marriott ([email protected]) with your abstract. Registration is now open. The link to the registration page is: http://www.victoria.ac.nz/sacl/about/events/atta-2017/registration-for-atta-2017 Registration options include (all prices are in New Zealand dollars and include GST): · Super Early Bird: $595 (3 day conference attendance including welcome function, conference dinner and farewell function) Registration and payment due by 15 October 2016 · Early Bird: $655 (3 day conference attendance including welcome function, conference dinner and farewell function) Registration and payment due by 15 December 2016 · Full Fee (after 16 December 2016): $695 (3 day conference attendance including welcome function, conference dinner and farewell function) · PhD Students (Full time): $435 (3 day conference attendance including welcome function, conference dinner and farewell function) · ATO / IR rate: $320 (Days 2 and 3 conference attendance including lunch, morning and afternoon tea) · Industry: $265 (One day conference attendance including lunch, morning and afternoon tea) · Welcome function only: $95 (Wednesday 18 January) · Conference dinner only: $120 (Thursday 19 January) · Closing function only: $45 (Friday 20 January) Information about accommodation is available on the conference website at: http://www.victoria.ac.nz/sacl/about/events/atta-2017/atta-conference-2017- accommodation If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch with any of the organising committee: Lisa, Andrew, Jonathan or David ([email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]) or visit the conference website at: www.victoria.ac.nz/atta-2017 3 OUP ATTA Doctoral Series 2016 We are pleased to announce that Oxford University Press Australia and ATTA will provide the opportunity to publish a book based upon a thesis in the OUP ATTA Doctoral Series. Expressions of interest are therefore called for doctoral submissions to be considered for the sixth publication in the Series. The Series was previously sponsored by CCH, and past authors have included Lisa Marriott, Brett Freudenberg, John Bevacqua, Fiona Martin and Theuns Steyn. Applicants need to follow the guidelines listed below which have been agreed to by the Doctoral Series Editorial Board (DSEB), consisting of Professors Adrian Sawyer, Kerrie Sadiq and Dale Pinto. 2 1. To be eligible for submission for possible publication in the OUP ATTA Doctoral Series, a doctoral thesis must be at least at the stage of having been approved for award of the degree, but need not be awarded at the time of submission. 2. To be eligible, the academic must be affiliated with an Australian or New Zealand University. The content should relate to any taxation topic with particular relevance to Australia and/or New Zealand. 3. Submissions must be made to the DSEB by the relevant cut-off date for a year to be considered for possible publication in the series in that year. For 2016, the cut-off date is 30 November 2016. The successful applicant will be announced at ATTA in January 2017. 4. Theses from any period will be considered by the DSEB for possible publication in the series. However, the currency, relevance and topical interest of the thesis will be among the considerations taken into account by the DSEB in selecting a thesis for possible publication. 5. If a thesis which is submitted by an author needs to be updated/edited in the view of the DSEB then the author undertakes to carry out any updates/edits to the satisfaction of the DSEB within time frames which the DSEB specifies. 6. Doctoral submissions may include PhD or SJD theses which have been through the examination process. 7. The DSEB may decide not to publish any submissions received in a particular year. There will not be more than one winner in any year. 8. Any publication is subject to a contractual agreement between the author and OUP and will be subject to OUP’s standard approval processes including approval by the Delegates of the Press. 9. The decisions of the DSEB are final and no correspondence will be entered into. Please send submissions on or before the 2016 cut-off date of 30 November 2016 to Professor Dale Pinto ([email protected]). The submission should include: a) a copy of the thesis b) a brief statement on the status of the award (whether awarded or approved) c) details of the supervisors of the degree and d) copies of the examiners’ formal reports on the thesis. The Doctoral Series Editorial Board 4 New Zealand developments There continues to be considerable interest in house prices in New Zealand (see: New Zealand tops world house price increase available at https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/sep/06/new-zealand-tops-world-house-price- list). As a result, land taxes continue to generate much debate. In recent times we have seen two Inland Revenue documents issued to clarify interpretations of recent land tax changes. These are: • QB 16/07: Income tax – land sale rules – main home and residential exclusions – regular pattern of acquiring and disposing, or building and disposing. This document explains what will be considered as a ‘regular pattern’ of transactions that will result in land sellers being unable to take advantage of the residential exclusion (s CB 16 Income Tax Act 2007 (ITA)) in the land sales rules or will prevent them from using the ‘main home’ exclusion (s CB 16A ITA) in the new two-year bright-line test. • QB 16/06: Income tax - land acquired for a purpose or with an intention of disposal. This document provides guidance on s CB 6 ITA (when land is acquired with the purpose of intention of disposal) and its relationship with the new two-year bright-line test. We have also had: • A discussion document released for consultation relating to BEPS – specifically addressing hybrid mismatch arrangements (available at: https://taxpolicy.ird.govt.nz/publications/2016- 3 dd-hybrids-mismatch/overview). The document is seeking comment on how the OECD recommendations could be implemented in NZ. • An Interpretation Statement released for consultation (PUB00231: Income Tax - Timing - When is income from professional services derived?). This document outlines the general principles for accounting for income on cash or accrual accounting bases. Lisa Marriott 5 Vacancies Monash University The Department of Business Law and Taxation at Monash University is currently recruiting at levels D, B and A. The advertisements and PDs can be accessed at: http://business.monash.edu/the-school/academic-careers.