There is a famous tax case where a judge used the analogy of a tree to explain the difference between capital and income. The capital is like the tree and the income is the fruit. In a country where tax planning is almost as important as the resources sector, losing money is not always a bad thing. So when ABC Learning Centres said earlier in the month that it was taking over its smaller rival, Kids Campus, Melbourne operative Geoff Lord should have been pretty happy. Australian Financial Review, 24/03/2006, Market Wrap, page 52 Lord's light shining a little more brightly
Eye on Politics & Law Lords: True blue Australian spirit
Courtesy of Margaret Lake:
I am not often givent o surges of patriotism but events of recent days have caused my heart to swell with national pride - and it has nothing to do with our medal haul in Melbourne. True courage and character are revealed in the face of adversity and that is exactly what we have seen from the people of North Queensland and many other Australians this week.
• Carolyn Tucker Sunshine Coast Daily (Maroochydore) [This database assists in the efficient exchange of information by providing links to publicly available websites that contain information that might often be requested by competent authorities - Aussies and Bohemians - Database of public websites relevant to Competent Authorities ; The NSW opposition is again calling on the government to honour its commitment to the GST agreement by cutting business taxes to kickstart the state's economy. Iemma 'must cut business tax ]
• · AWB's no-pay-no-grain scandal should be sending chills into board- rooms across Australia. Blurred lines encourage companies to align morality with tax deductibility ; The share of national income captured by Australia's wealthiest individuals has leapt to its highest since the Korean War So, it is the rich what gets the pleasure
• · · The FBI and CIA were very concerned with the outsourcing of year 2000 work offshore because there was no easy way to control or prevent backdoors, malicious code or other opportunities for computer criminal activity in such practices. (ATO offshoring close, March 9) To provide such an opportunity to overworked and underpaid programmers in these offshoring countries, where there have been a number of reported white-collar criminal issues related to outsourcing, is an operational risk far too serious to consider in regard to something as sensitive as tax systems. Too touchy for tax ; Why "Get Rich Quick" will only ever cost you money
• · · · AUSTRALIANS who declare an income of zero are spending more on their tax affairs than the average worker, suggesting they are exploiting the tax system by using loopholes and legitimate financial structures Taxation's park bench mark attacked ; By John Wasiliev: The Australian Financial Review. Page 28. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission says promoters of illegal superannuation access schemes target vulnerable people. In many cases these same people are legally entitled to gain early access to their savings anyway. Executive director of consumer protection, Greg Tanzer, says promoters deliberately use people's ignorance of superannuation rules so they can earn exorbitant commissions. Fund members in severe financial distress can gain access to some of their savings by applying to the fund trustee. Money can also be released on compassionate grounds and for medical treatment Early access to funds is possible - 22/03/2006
• · · · · It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a government in possession of a healthy surplus, must be in want of a tax cut. The difficulty for the Howard government is persuading Australians that a surplus -- estimated to be as large as $15 billion this financial year -- does not equal an over-taxed population. Australian Financial Review, 25/03/2006, There's politics in tax ; I idolize Warren Buffett. The investment legend is unafraid to stick to his convictions, regardless of how unpalatable they may be at a given moment. When United States investment legend Warren Buffett says he is worried, the rest of us ought to be hearing alarm bells. Buffett, arguably the world's best known share investor, is worried about costs - "frictional costs" that threaten to dramatically lower investor's returns in the future. Our miracle economy is running out of spark.
• · · · · · Freedoms at risk as banks forced to act ; Why the biggest beneficiaries of globalization may be pimps, drug runners and other crooks. Merchants of Mayhem ; There are ... Merchants of Mayhem... : Consider these disparate and disturbing facts from Illicit, a new book by Moisés Naím Unsecured nuclear material ...