28 August 2008:  The Australian Taxation Office’s Compliance Program 2008-2009 released this month highlights areas of ongoing uncertainty for the property industry, says professional services firm, Deloitte.

Deloitte property tax partner, Max Persson, said trusts have been used as collective investment vehicles in the property industry for decades, yet the way in which the ATO applies the tax law to trusts is still unclear.

“The ATO has...

With businesses needing to reassess how they deal with the expanded scope and depth of reporting, CFOs from Australia’s major business enterprises (G100) and professional services firm Deloitte have issued guidance on material business risk to facilitate good governance and investor confidence.

Advising specifically on compliance with the ASX Corporate Governance Council’s (CGC) Principle 7, the G100/Deloitte guide Recognise and manage risk: a Guide to...

The application follows investigations by the Administrators (John Greig, Neil Cussen and Gary Doran from Deloitte) into the financial position of PWL, the responsible entity for six MIS and other companies within the Palandri Wine Group. Members in the six MIS had invested a total of approximately $160 million.

These investigations have concluded that PWL is...

The Deloitte survey takes an inside look at the property exposure of the ‘balanced’ implemented products offered by consultants during a year in which most balanced funds delivered their first negative return in five years.

“The average balanced fund return in our quarterly performance and attribution superannuation analysis for the year ended 30 June 2008...

This annual publication gives taxpayers an insight into the ATO’s views on key compliance risks and summarises its focus for the year ahead.

Paul Riley, Deloitte’s national leader of Australia’s Transfer Pricing said over the last 12 months the ATO is seeing Australia’s existing revenue base eroded by taxpayers sending their profits offshore.

“We saw the Commissioner take Australia’s...

Elizma Bolt, employment tax partner at Deloitte, said this applies both to employers with staff members attending the games in China, as well as those hosting events in Australia.

“Employers need to understand what to review to ensure that they capture all relevant costs and don’t overpay FBT,” Ms Bolt said.

The methodology used by an employer to value meal entertainment throughout the...

Monday 4 August 2008: In a comprehensive review of the Australian Government’s Green Paper on the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, professional services firm Deloitte has told its clients that the impact of doing business in a ‘brave new carbon-constrained world’ will be far-reaching, with organisations that are able to adapt and act more likely to prosper.

“The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme will fundamentally change the economic environment,” said Deloitte Australia’s Chairman Wayne Goss. “However many Australian businesses are still at the early...

Two-thirds (67%) of the E&R organisations surveyed cited human error as the most significant root cause of security failure, ahead of either technology or operations. Yet almost one third (29%) of those surveyed did not provide employees with any training on information security...

Deloitte partner Wayne Walker said, "The competition is already intense, and battle is being waged in the face of an industry changing shape under the combined impacts of the choice of fund legislation, the 2006 Federal Budget changes, and an aging population that is living longer."

Many argue that fund choice has been a non event, but Deloitte's actuarial modelling debunks this as a myth. Actual fund switches, reported at levels of 3%-5%, involve billions of...

“Achieving a successful sale of the business as a going concern is the best possible outcome for homeowners, suppliers, tradespeople and employees, so we are pleased with this result,” says Mr Campbell.

The purchase also includes the ownership of the intellectual property of Beechwood Homes. “The sale will allow for the value of the security deposits paid by...