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Summary of 2020 Local technical and financial reporting alerts
The ATO recently amended GSTR 2004/4 Assignment of payment streams including under a typical securitisation arrangement (GSTR 2004/4) to clarify how the ATO permits GST recovery for a home loan originator.
As flagged in June this year, Federal Parliament has passed a comprehensive package of reforms to Australia’s foreign investment review framework and Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 (FATA), due to come into effect on 1 January 2021.
On 1 January 2021, a new simplified small business restructuring process will become available for small businesses.
Commencing in 2021, the Federal Government has announced a new, simplified small business restructuring process for small businesses as part of the economic relief reforms.
While COVID-19 presented a challenge to companies that few could have anticipated, it also acted as a catalyst. Companies were forced to review legacy structures to allow for more agile decision making, and to test their purpose and role in wider society. This report provides salient insights for Boards in Australia, as despite having a different Code in place that we report against, the key themes resonate with what we’re seeing here – purpose, culture, emerging risk management, stakeholder engagement, board effectiveness, remuneration, ESG, diversity and succession planning. It is also a strong indicator of what companies should be focusing on in the coming year.
Nearly all discretionary trusts are taken to be foreign persons in NSW.
For retailers, the Christmas period has always been make or break.
Appropriate culture, governance systems and remuneration structures are critical to rebuilding trust in financial institutions and ensuring a resilient financial system. APRA, as the prudential regulator, plays a significant role in this through introducing new standards and its oversight regime.
We have released the seventh edition of Dealtracker, our analysis of the Australian M&A and equity markets. Covering transactions during the 18 month period from1 January 2019 to 30 June 2020, we saw a significant decrease in deals in H1 2020 as the world responded to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following on from David Thodey’s draft ‘Supporting the Road to Recovery’ report (Draft Report), released on 1 July 2020 (and commented on by us here on 16 July 2020), the NSW Budget handed down 17 November has confirmed the State Government’s proposal to replace stamp duty with a broad based property tax. If implemented, it will comprise the biggest shift in state taxes since World War 2.
It‘s a challenging environment for independent schools in Australia.