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The Australian Tax Office (ATO) issued its latest guidelines dated 25 June 2018 to professional services firms regarding its assessment of risk in respect to allocation of profits within such firms.

Foreign investors have been an easy target for politicians of late. It makes sense – they don’t get a vote and they don’t have a collective voice to defend themselves.

The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is the global standard for the collection, reporting and exchange of financial account information on foreign tax residents.

Mid-sized businesses are the backbone of the Australian economy and it’s crucial this segment is supported by a future-focused, long-term tax environment so they can achieve sustainable growth in what is an uncertain economic environment.

The federal budget in May provides an opportunity for the Turnbull Government to build on Australia’s record-breaking run of economic growth. Such growth is essential to fund vital infrastructure projects and health and education services, and to improve the individual and collective wellbeing of Australia’s people.

Investment in research and development (R&D) is vital to Australia’s economy, and essential to attracting technology-focused organisations, investors and talent to our shores.

One of the most discussed elements of the Turnbull government’s tax agenda is its proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate for businesses with an annual turnover of more than $10 million. If implemented, the proposal would see the corporate tax rate drop from 30% to 25% over a 10-year period.

Based on announcements prior to Tuesday’s federal budget, Australia’s improved economic fortunes and more rigorous tax compliance and enforcement activities are providing more revenue.

Many countries have the challenge of delivering sustainable tax revenues amid ongoing globalisation, technological change and disruption, rising energy costs and ageing populations. These influences won’t dissipate, but a review of recent history in the context of rumoured tax cuts in Tuesday’s federal budget reveals a substantial turnaround in Australia’s fortunes.

Whether the motivation is global competiveness, business strength, or individual prosperity, we know the wish list for the 2018 Federal Budget announcement looks different depending on which way you look at it.

Trustees of discretionary trusts could be contravening the Foreign Investment Review Board’s (FIRB) rules when purchasing Australian property.

You may recall in 2014 that the ATO issued guidelines (which were finalised in 2015) providing safe harbour benchmarks (30% effective tax rate, 50% individual share of income or benchmark comparable senior employee remuneration) for acceptable profit sharing arrangements involving Individual Professional Practitioners and legally effective practice entities.