CPA Australia Tax News

This edition of Tax News was current at the time of publication on April 9. You can subscribe to the Tax News email in your comms preference centre. 

Full FBT exemption to be phased out 

The Treasurer has announced changes to the FBT exemption for electric vehicles. The changes will be phased in over the next three years leading up to a permanent 25% discount for all eligible EVs.  

For EVs costing less than $75,000, there will be no changes until 1 April 2029.   

The phase-in will proceed as follows:  

• 2026-27 FBT year: no change to the FBT exemption 
• 2027-28 and 2028-29 (2 FBT years): EVs costing more than $75,000 and below the luxury car tax threshold (currently at $91,387) will receive a 25% discount on their payable FBT  
• 2029-30 onwards: all EVs below the luxury car tax threshold will receive a 25% discount on payable FBT.   

ATO engagement with First Nations taxpayers   

The Tax Ombudsman is conducting a review into how the ATO engages with First Nations taxpayers, including individuals, businesses, and their representatives.  

The review examines barriers to meeting tax and super obligations, the cultural safety of ATO staff, and whether the ATO effectively identifies and responds to the needs of First Nation taxpayers. It also looks at protections against predatory agent behaviour.  
 
Send your comments by 24 August to: [email protected].

Property development arrangements submission    

We made a submission to the ATO’s PCG 2026/D2. We consider the draft PCG to cast the compliance net too widely over related-party property development arrangements and to risk capturing ordinary commercial structures that reflect genuine legal and business separation.

Statutory review of capitalisation reforms 

We made a submission to support the Board of Taxation’s policy intent of the 2024 thin capitalisation reforms to align Australia’s interest limitation rules with OECD best practice and curb excessive debt deductions by multinationals. However, the practical operation of the new regime has proven materially more complex and disruptive than the policy intent required. 

 

ATO website updates

• Act now to transition from the SBSCH 
• Personal services income compliance 
• Report a breach: Australian foreign investment rules 
• Joint operation takes aim at international scam syndicate  
• MTAS: What tax agents need to know for Tax Time 2026 

 

SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL PLANNING

ASIC releases digital assets implementation roadmap

ASIC has published a roadmap outlining its approach to implementing new digital assets legislation, which will bring digital asset platforms and tokenised custody platforms under the financial services licensing regime from April 2027. 

The Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Act 2026, commences on 9 April 2027. 

Under the new regime, ASIC will be responsible for licensing and supervising digital asset platforms and tokenised custody platforms, with an 18-month, 4-stage implementation timeline established. ASIC will consult on standards covering asset-holding requirements, transactional and settlement standards, and financial requirements similar to those in Regulatory Guide 166 AFS licensing: Financial requirements (RG 166). 

 

ATO super updates 

• Super Fund Lookup
• Super rates and thresholds 
• Quarterly and Payday Super

 

SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL PLANNING

APRA urges step-change in AI risk management   

APRA has released its Letter to Industry on Artificial Intelligence (AI), calling for a significant uplift in how banks, insurers and superannuation trustees manage AI-related risks. 

The letter outlines findings from a targeted supervisory review conducted in late 2025 across selected large, regulated entities and warns that governance, risk management, assurance and operational resilience practices are not keeping pace with the speed of AI adoption.   

ATO super updates  

• Rollovers for SMSFs 
• R&DTI claims 
• Moving to Payday Super  

 

 

Public Practice Program 

Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne   

Gain the skills and professional approach required for a successful career in public practice. 

 

Year end tax wrap 

June 2 and 4   

Learn about the practical impact of recent tax changes and how these changes will affect you.

 

 

LEGISLATION

Access to perpetrators' super for survivors of child abuse 

The Treasury Laws Amendment (The Survivors Law) Bill 2026 finally passed both houses of Parliament without amendment.  

The Bill creates a framework enabling victims and survivors of specified child abuse offences to access certain amounts from a perpetrator's superannuation to satisfy unpaid compensation orders derived from criminal or civil proceedings. This aims to prevent perpetrators from shielding their assets through their super accounts. In addition, the Bill states that even if a perpetrator declares bankruptcy, compensation debts will still stand.  

The Bill commences the day after Royal Assent. Requests for perpetrator superannuation information will be available from 12 months after commencement.  

Global and domestic minimum tax amendments  

Treasury has issued the Taxation (Multinational - Global and Domestic Minimum Tax) Amendment exposure draft. The draft instrument proposes the following amendments: 

adjust the Flow-through Entity income allocation rules and related definitions in Chapter 10  

expand the range of entities included in the Blended Controlled Foreign Corporation Allocation Key  

specify certain distinct types of Substitute Loss Carry-Forward Deferred Tax Assets (DTAs) that may arise depending on how the tax regime of the Constituent Entity's jurisdiction applies. 

Date of effect: Retrospective from 1 January 2024.  
 
Send your comments by 21 May to: [email protected].

 

 

RULINGS AND GUIDANCE

Decision Impact Statement    

The ATO has issued a Decision Impact Statement (DIS) outlining the ATO's response to the Federal Court's decision in FCT v Shaw (2026). The Court upheld an ART decision that a truck driver was entitled to a deduction for food expenses based on the ATO's reasonable daily amount.  

The ATO considers the decision in Shaw does not:  

• provide sufficient evidence that the deductions resulted in gaining or producing assessable income 
• remove the need to consider apportionment of meal expenses where those expenses relate in part to private purposes; and 
• provide an automatic statutory deduction when the meal expenses claimed are within the ATO's published guideline on "reasonable amounts".  

 

 

CASES

Shell Energy wins CGT cost base dispute over ATO 

The Federal Court preferred SEHAL's contention in SEHAL v. FCT (2026) that each Woodside Petroleum Limited share should be assessed with consideration to the fact that SAL acquired all 228,456,275 WPL shares on the same day (20 January 1997). The Court also preferred SEHAL's expert evidence and adopted a premium of 18% over the closing market price of $9.42, yielding a market value of $11.12 per share. 

Foreign trust distributions to Australian beneficiary  

Certain distributions from a foreign trust were assessable income of an Australian resident beneficiary under s 99B(1) of the ITAA 1936. The taxpayer provided no probative evidence of the source of the distributions or how the relevant funds came to be trust assets. In Frizelle and FCT (2026), The ART also said that the knowledge of the taxpayer is irrelevant to the operation of s 99B and upheld shortfall penalties based on recklessness. 

 

 

 

NEW ZEALAND TAX NEWS

Will AI eat my accounting practice?

It's not the first time new technology has disrupted accounting — the arrival of Excel caused a similar shift.  

AML/CFT reform Bills 

Two major Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) reform Bills have now been passed into law.  
 
The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (Supervisor, Levy, and other Matters) Amendment Bill was passed into law and comes into effect on 1 July 2026.  
 
The amendments: 

• create a single supervisor and sufficient powers for the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) to successfully carry out its mandate 
• enable the setting and collection of an industry levy to (part) fund an AML/CFT strategy and regulatory work programme (subject to final Cabinet approval)
• allow agencies to make regulatory changes through alternative forms of secondary legislation such as rules and notices.  

The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill was also passed into law, with amendments that will: 

• deliver targeted, practical changes to reinforce the risk-based approach and clarity for businesses with AML compliance obligations 
• remove duplication and ensure obligations, including due diligence, and the provision of records, are applied proportionately, and not through rigid rules.  

 

Law firm failed to maintain AML/CFT compliance 

A Hamilton law firm has been fined $60,000 for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Act offences, following an investigation by the Department of Internal Affairs.
 
Foster & Milroy pleaded guilty to criminal breaches of the Act — including failures to undertake a compliant risk assessment, to establish, implement, or maintain an AML/CFT programme, to maintain proper records, and wilfully obstructing an AML/CFT supervisor in the exercise of its powers.  

Watch out for scammers this tax season 

Individual Income Tax Assessments will be sent at the beginning of June until the end of July. 

IR is warning scammers may take advantage of this current period and increase their attempts to trick taxpayers into providing them with personal information.  

 

Statutory guidance issued to help protect Kiwis’ rights 

The Minister for Regulation and the Attorney‑General have issued joint statutory guidance to support consistent application of the Regulatory Standards Act 2025. Statutory guidance will show government agencies how to comply with the Act’s new transparency requirements and establish best practices for the review of existing legislation.  

From July, any Minister introducing a Bill to the house must also provide a Consistency Accountability Statement (CAS) to be published. The CAS will hold Ministers accountable to explaining whether or not the proposed laws are consistent with the principles of responsible regulation.

 

Guidance on sustainability-related financial products  

The Financial Markets Authority has updated their guidance on the disclosure and communication of financial products with sustainability-related characteristics.  

The FMA clarifies how fair‑dealing and disclosure obligations apply when issuers promote environmental, social or value-based attributes. 

The guidance is built around four core principles: 

• claims need to be clear 
• claims need to be substantiated 
• messages need to be consistent, and 
• third-party involvement is effectively managed.   

 

Budget 2026  

The New Zealand Budget will be delivered on 28 May 2026.  
 
Predictions are that Budget 2026 is expected to reveal a weaker near-term outlook due to the Iran war.  

 

RULINGS AND GUIDANCE

Off-market share cancellation  

IR issued TDS 26/04, summarising a private ruling about whether: 

• a share cancellation payment was in lieu of a dividend under s CD 22 or was a dividend under s CD 4
• whether the share-for-share exchange limitation in s CD 43 applied 
• whether s BG 1 applied to vary these outcomes.

The Tax Counsel Office decided: 

• no part of either cancellation payment was in lieu of the payment of a dividend for the purposes of s CD 22(6) 
• no part of either cancellation payment was a dividend under s CD 4 
• the share-for-share exchange limitation in s CD 43 did not apply 
• s BG 1 did not apply to vary the above outcomes