This week we discuss the latest tax updates, that were directed more to the individual tax system, more so than corporate. As legislation is set to pass this will change, and rest assured we will dis cuss here. In the meantime, the points discussed today are:

The government has issued new Approved Occupational Clothing Guidelines which commence on 1 October 2017 (with previous guidelines repealing from the same date). These guidelines set out the conditions for entitlement to a tax deduction for non-compulsory uniforms and wardrobes where the design of the clothing is entered on the Register of Approved Occupational Clothing (the Register). The Register is kept by AusIndustry.

An employee may claim a deduction for expenditure on uniforms or wardrobes (Div 34 of ITAA 1997) where:

1. the clothing is occupation-specific or protective in nature
2. wearing the clothing is a compulsory condition of employment and the clothing is not conventional, or
3. if wearing the clothing is not compulsory, the clothing design is entered on the Register of Approved Occupational Clothing.

The new guidelines cover:

• the tax law relating to occupational clothing
• steps employers must take to have clothing designs registered, and
• factors for determining eligibility for registration.

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The Medicare Levy is set to increase to 2.5% (from 2%) for the 2019/20 (and subsequent) income years.

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The Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) has been amended via the Treasury Laws Amendment (2017 Measure No 4) Bill 2017 to improve the integrity of the WET Producer Reabte.

Currently, a WET producer rebate (in the form of a WET credit) is available for producers of eligible wine. The amendments in the Bill are intended to address concerns in the Australian wine industry that the WET producer rebate has created distortions in the market through misuse and exploitation of the rebate, contributing to excessive wine grape production. The amendments are intended to ensure that wine producers that invest in regional communities benefit from the WET producer rebate rather than wine traders and suppliers.

Schedule 1 of the Bill amends the A New Tax System (Wine Equalisation Tax) Act 1999 (WET Act) to:

• make integrity changes to the WET producer rebate 

• create a stronger link between the entitlement to the WET producer rebate and the payment of WET 

• reduce the WET rebate cap from $500,000 to $350,000 

• tighten the associated producers rule, and 

• repeal the earlier producer rebate rule. 


The WET producer rebate amendments take effect generally from 1 July 2018. 


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The ATO has issued Goods and Services Tax: Waiver of Tax Invoice Requirement (Corporate Card Statements) Legislative Instrument 2017 which sets out the circumstances in which an entity can claim GST input tax credits on the basis of credit or charge card statements, even though no formal tax invoice has been issued. The determination took effect for tax periods commencing after 14 August 2017.  The new determination is substantially the same as the previous determinations. An entity that satisfied the requirements of the previous determinations will satisfy the requirements of this determination. 
If the requirements are met, for the purposes of attributing an input tax credit for a creditable acquisition to a tax period, a cardholder is not required to hold a tax invoice for the creditable. In summary, the corporate card statement may be used to claim input tax credits where: 


• the card holder holds a corporate card statement for the creditable acquisition that contains the information set out in section 9 of the determination 

• the GST related information on the statement meets the accuracy requirements in section 12 

• the cardholder meets the requirements of section 13 that ensure that the statement is used accurately to claim input tax credits