Treatises on Taxation Laws

Question: Discuss about the Treatises on Taxation Laws. Answer: Introduction: Subsection 6(1) of the ITA Act 1997 defines income with regards to personal exertion as being incomes that are comprised of earnings, commissions, salaries, wages, fees along with superannuation allowances and bonuses in the capacity of being an employee, or in terms of rendering services or proceedings related to business operated or carried out by the taxpayer individually or in conjugation with any other person. Therefore it can be inferred from above that as Hilary cannot fit into this definition in case of publishing her story as she is not an employee of Daily Terror. She has been offered $10,000 for publishing her life story under the newspaper and has in turn sold the rights along with interests from copyrights onto the newspapers. Moreover, as Hillary has made exercise with regards to her writing skills and written a story based on her expertise and experiences from mountain climbing therefore the income derived from the selling of such interests comes under purview of incom e from personal services as opposed to income from exertion. Further as Hillary has not sought any professional assistance, in writing her life story, such as hiring a ghost writer for assistance therefore such services comes under the head of Income from personal services. In case of selling of manuscript to Mitchell Library it can be inferred that the $5,000 earned from sale cannot be apportioned under the head income from personal exertion as such incomes comes from professional efforts on the part of Hillary. Moreover, in case of selling photographs at an amount of $2,000 Hillary employed use of professional skills along with professional equipments devoid of any external assistance. Thereby, incomes from the sale of photographs can be attributed to income from exertions as amount. In case Hillary had no intentions of selling her story at the time of writing it her efforts cannot be considered to be with a view to earn profits. In the current case study, there have not been any formal agreements between the client and her son regarding the loan advanced. Moreover, the client has mentioned that her son is not required to pay taxes as regards to the loans advanced for housing purposes of her son. Morse and Deutsch (2016) mentions that in cases of interfamily financial transfers, the agreements tends to be mutual as opposed to being written in a contractual manner. Frecknall-Hughes and McKerchar (2013) states that is caused by the fact that cohesion between family members along with the level of trust that are established has a significant role to play in terms of any monetary and non monetary interactions among the members of the same family. Schedule of Loan Repayment by Son Particulars $ Maturity amount as decided initially 50,000 Time frame of maturity 5 years Amount of loan taken 40000 Profit as per initial claims 10,000 Interest per year applying simple interest method 2000 Per year rate of interest computed on the basis of (in percent) 5 Actual interest rates offered by the son. 5 Total amounts of repayment made by son 44000 Interest paid 4000 Section 26.40 of the ITA Act specifies the fact that the individuals are allowed to deduct any expenditures as regards to maintenance of spouse and child who is below 16 years of age (Ato.gov.au., 2016). However, her son being an adult she cannot legally benefit from providing financial assistance to the clients. In the current case, the repayment period was stated to be of 5 years along with a repayment price of $50,000 with regard to the $40000 borrowed. Thereby, incurring an overall lump sum interest of $10,000 which comes from ($50,000 - $40,000) as per the terms mutually settled between the client and her son. The amount of $42,000 received from the clients son has no taxable repercussions as no formal agreements have been made with regards to the advancements of loan. Computation of capital gain Particulars Details $ Sale price of property 800,000 Indexation (based on 3rd quarter of 1986) 2.513889 Market value of land as on the date 1 September, 1986 90000 Indexed cost of acquiring land 226250 Cost of constructing building on 1 September, 1986 60000 Indexed cost of construction of building 150833.3 Capital gains 422,917 The indexation as regards to the acquired capital assets through use of consumer price indexation method is aimed towards providing parity in taxation method (Tran-Nam, Evans and Lignier, 2014). Moreover, it assists towards providing adequate relief in terms of capital gains to individuals along with companies in case of capital gain transactions. Moreover, indexation also helps towards serving as the base of cost ascertainment of equitable base (Graham, Raedy, and Shackelford, 2012). Thereby, in the current case study Scots indexed cost of acquisition assist towards reducing the amount of capital gain from the sell out of the renting property. The market value of the land was taken from 1.09.86 due to the fact that indexation cannot be done for acquisition costs prior to 1st quarter of 1985. Moreover, in case of computation of indexation ratio, the indexation available for the 2nd quarter of 2016 is taken into account along with the indexation for the 3rd quarter of 1986. In case Scot decides to sell the property to his daughter, he cannot avail any benefits of low consideration price. It is because of the fact that as per the Income Tax Assessment Act, 1997 in cases where properties and capital assets are transferred to family member at a price less that of the prevailing market price, the market price shall be considered as the sale price of the asset or property. Accordingly, capital gain shall be computed through deducting market price of the property on the date of transfer from the cost of acquisition (indexed or not indexed). Thereby, the amount of capital gain taxable in the hands of Scots will not change even if he transfers the property to his daughter below the market value at $200,000. In case of a company, indexation methods will still be applicable as companies are barred from following discounted methods. Thereby, the capital gains in terms of companies will not change in this circumstance. References and Bibliography: Woellner, R., Barkoczy, S., Murphy, S., Evans, C. and Pinto, D., 2016.Australian Taxation Law 2016. Oxford University Press. Pinto, D., Gilchrist, D. and Morgan, A., 2013. A few reflections on the current state of play for not-for-profit taxation arrangements.Taxation in Australia,48(2), p.79. Morse, S.C. and Deutsch, R., 2016. Tax Anti-Avoidance Law in Australia and the United States. Gains, F.R.C., 2014. Law Society Advocacy and Law Reform: Latest News and Developments. Frecknall-Hughes, J. and McKerchar, M., 2013. Historical perspectives on the emergence of the tax profession: Australia and the UK.Austl. Tax F.,28, p.275. Davison, M., Monotti, A. and Wiseman, L., 2016.Australian intellectual property law. Cambridge University Press. Tran-Nam, B., Evans, C. and Lignier, P., 2014. Personal taxpayer compliance costs: Recent evidence from Australia.Austl. Tax F.,29, p.137. Dahl, G.B. and Lochner, L., 2012. The impact of family income on child achievement: Evidence from the earned income tax credit.The American Economic Review,102(5), pp.1927-1956. Graham, J.R., Raedy, J.S. and Shackelford, D.A., 2012. Research in accounting for income taxes.Journal of Accounting and Economics,53(1), pp.412-434. Ato.gov.au. (2016). Guide to capital gains tax 2016 | Australian Taxation Office. [online] Available at: https://www.ato.gov.au/Forms/Guide-to-capital-gains-tax-2016/ [Accessed 23 Aug. 2016]. Ato.gov.au. (2016). Working out your capital gain | Australian Taxation Office. [online] Available at: https://www.ato.gov.au/General/Capital-gains-tax/Working-out-your-capital-gain-or-loss/Working-out-your-capital-gain/ [Accessed 23 Aug. 2016]. Ato.gov.au. (2016). Transferring real estate to family or friends | Australian Taxation Office. [online] Available at: https://www.ato.gov.au/General/Capital-gains-tax/In-detail/Real-estate/Transferring-real-estate-to-family-or-friends/?page=3 [Accessed 24 Aug. 2016]. Ato.gov.au. (2016). Consumer price index | Australian Taxation Office. [online] Available at: https://www.ato.gov.au/Rates/Consumer-price-index/ [Accessed 24 Aug. 2016].