Congratulations to Neil Chenoweth and Edmund Tadros of The Australian Financial Review on winning the 48th Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year Award. The pair won for their coverage of the PwC Tax Leaks Scandal.
PwC: A corporate giant on the brink and the ‘best graduate job going’ that’s now on the nose
Financial Crises and Tax Havens
Tax havens not only facilitate tax evasion and corruption in ‘normal times’, they also harbour funds during economic crises, slowing down recovery.
Dealmaking slowdown leaves private equity with record unsold assets FT. Somebody call a wh-a-a-a-a-bulance!
Opinion | Jon Stewart rips Trump’s so-called ‘patriots’ in spot-on commentary
Unis rejecting tourist, bridging visa holders as foreign crackdown intensifies
It's using all of its debt recovery tools, Mr Archer says, including issuing director penalty notices which give a company director 21 days to voluntarily enter into an insolvency appointment, otherwise they become personally liable for their company's debt.
It is also becoming more common for the ATO to use garnishee notices against small business owners, Mr Archer says.
This practice was highlighted as part of a joint Fairfax (now Nine) and ABC Four Corners investigation that revealed the practice was crippling small businesses and was found to be problematic in a consequent review by the small business ombudsman.
Another review by the inspector-general of taxation found the impact of garnishee notices on small business owners "can be very significant and take the form of substantial emotional, reputational and financial harm".
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie is also worried that the ATO's current approach to debt recovery could send more small businesses to the wall.
Wall Street Journal, We’re Paying for Our Daughter’s Wedding. Is It a Taxable Gift?:
We answer readers’ questions about annual gift giving and taxes.
Q: My husband and I each plan to give our adult children $14,000 this year. My daughter may marry this year, and we would like to pay for much of the wedding. Could paying for the caterer or another wedding supplier count as a taxable gift if we pay the vendor directly?—a reader in Lexington, Ky.
A: You probably can pay for the wedding without fearing the taxmen. Paul Caron, a professor specializing in gift and estate taxes who is also dean of Pepperdine Caruso Law School, says, “In all my years in tax, I’ve never seen a case or ruling involving parents’ payments for a child’s wedding. So I wouldn’t feel I have to tell parents they owe gift tax on the cost of a wedding.”
He adds that often a wedding is more for the parents than the child, as in, “We’ve waited all this time…” However, he does advise parents to pay wedding bills directly to suppliers rather than giving money to the child for payments.
There’s more to gift taxes than weddings. Here are some other questions.
Q: I’m curious. If an NFL quarterback “gives” to each of the offensive line—the people who block opponents from sacking him—a $15,000 present, are the presents taxable to the linemen, and is the total $65,000 deductible to the QB?—a reader in Sebastian, Fla. ...
Q: If I give some of my stocks to a relative, I presume there is a step-up in basis. If they then sell the stock (assume it hasn’t appreciated) and give the proceeds back to me—all at amounts under the lifetime gift maximum allowed—will I owe any taxes?—a reader in Santa Clara, Calif. ...
MARK JUDGE: Peter Thiel Needs to Write Me a Check. “The right’s refusal to support artists leads many people to abandon conservative politics—or to not join.”
