The Federal Government has stepped in to make clear that it does not intend for passive investment companies to benefit from its company tax cuts.
The Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, Kelly O’Dwyer has gone to the trouble of issuing a statement of the Government’s intention with respect to the company tax cuts even before the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has an opportunity to give interpretation beyond a draft ruling.
Reacting to media reports on a possible broadening of interpretation around the tax cuts, O’Dwyer acknowledged that it was the job of the ATO to determine how the law applied and, in the current case, whether a company was carrying on a business or not.
“However, the policy decision made by the Government to cut the tax rate for small companies was not meant to apply to passive investment companies,” the minister said. “If any further direction is required on the Government’s policy intention by the ATO it will be provided by the Government.”
“At the end of the day the Government wants to see lower taxes on small and medium businesses.”
