Taxabull » youth allowance

ATO vs Symone Anstis case dispute continues..!!

taxabull — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:24:15 +0000

Justice will be served..!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrbill/ / CC BY 2.0

This is our continued coverage of this tax case regarding the deductibility of self-education expenses against Youth Allowance income……

The full Federal Court found in favour of Symone Anstis on 4 November 2009.

However, the ATO has once again lodged an application on 2 December 2009 for special leave to appeal against this decision to the High Court.

This should be final rung in the ongoing dispute, so until then, the ATO’s existing non-deductible view stands.

Keep those tax receipts though as we think that Symone has a very strong case to argue.

TIMELINE OF EVENTS (UPDATED)

17/11/2006 ATO issues an amended tax assessment to Symone

27/11/2006 Symone objects to amendment

05/12/2006 ATO disallows Symone’s objection

12/12/2006 Symone goes to Tribunal to dispute ATO decision

18/04/2007 Tribunal rules in favour of ATO

21/07/2008 Symone appeals to the Federal Court

01/04/2009 The Federal Court rules in favour of Symone

29/05/2009 The ATO appeals against the Federal Court decision

04/11/2009 The full Federal Court dismisses the ATO’s appeal

02/12/2009 The ATO appeals the decision to the High Court

COURT JUDGEMENTS

Symone Anstis and Commissioner of Taxation – AAT (18 April 2007)

Anstis v Federal Commissioner of Taxation – Federal Court (1 April 2009)

FC of T v Anstis – Full Federal Court (4 November 2009)

Fingers crossed…!

Taxabull Team

Its official!! The results are out for Federal Commissioner of Taxation vs Symone Antis!!

taxabull — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:21:03 +0000

We have been covering this tax case with interest from Day One….

FINAL CONCLUSION

The Symone Antis v. FC of T case confirms that education expenses should be allowaed as deductions against Youth Allowance income.

This is a massive win for tertiary students around Australia earning Youth Allowance income!!

From a revenue perspective, the court ruled that Youth Allowance is assessable income as per s 6.5. It doesn’t fall under educational scholarships which is exempt income as per s 6-20.

In fact, it is specifically mentioned in s 51-35 that,

“‘The following payments made to or on behalf of a full time student at a school, college or university are not exempt from income tax under item 2.1A of the table in section 51 10:”

The court also ruled that “the expenditure in question was incurred in the course of gaining or producing the respondent’s assessable income within the first limb of s 8-1″.

It is amazing that the Commissioner was pursuing the case so vigourously considering the facts of the case. Perhaps it is indicative of the overall aggressive tact taken recently by the ATO.

Here’s a quick recap for those who are new to this case…

SUMMARY FOR THOSE WHO MISSED THE CASE RULING

SYMONE’S CASE

Symone (the taxpayer) is claiming that her education expenses should be tax deductible because being enrolled in a tertiary education is one of the prerequisites for her entitlement to Youth Allowance.

So, she claimed various expenses such as textbooks, depreciation on the computer, travel, etc.

COMMISSIONER’S CASE

The ATO claimed that this was bogus because she incurred these education expenses to finish her teaching degree and eventually qualify as a teacher.

They are arguing that the expenses are not deductible because it wasn’t incurred to derive an income. That is, she was not earning money as a teacher yet at this point in time.

They also rejected the argument that the education expenses was a valid deduction to get Youth Allowance income.

TIMELINE OF EVENTS

17/11/2006 ATO issues an amended tax assessment to Symone

27/11/2006 Symone objects to amendment

05/12/2006 ATO disallows Symone’s objection

12/12/2006 Symone goes to Tribunal to dispute ATO decision

18/04/2007 Tribunal rules in favour of ATO

21/07/2008 Symone appeals to the Federal Court

01/04/2009 The Federal Court rules in favour of Symone

29/05/2009 The ATO appeals against the Federal Court decision

04/11/2009 The full Federal Court dismisses the ATO’s appeal

COURT JUDGEMENTS

Symone Anstis and Commissioner of Taxation – AAT (18 April 2007)

Anstis v Federal Commissioner of Taxation – Federal Court (1 April 2009)

FC of T v Anstis – Full Federal Court (4 November 2009)

Cheers!
Taxabull Team

What The Budget Means For Young People

taxabull — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:02:00 +0000

While most young people probably didn’t tune into the Budget announcement by Treasurer Wayne Swan they sure were talking about it online given #ausbudget09 and #budget09 were trending topics on Twitter last night. Perhaps it’s the current concern over the state of the economy that has got everyone involved but deservingly so, because they will cop the recovery of the $57.6bn deficit!

Youth Allowance and Abstudy

But not all was doom and gloom because if you are a student looking to Youth Allowance and Abstudy as income support, the parental income test for these dependants will be increased from $32,800 to $42,559 from 1 July. This means more students should qualify for the support (than they normally wouldn’t have) and thus be able to receive an extra buck to drink at that university bar.

First Home Buyers

For those who are first home buyers and have been trawling through every property inspection most weekends (along with hundreds of other keen property beans) than the 30 June deadline for the boosted first home owner grant will be extended for another six months. That means inflationary home prices will continue, the number of people you are competing with for that house/apartment will carry on and your real estate agent’s number should still be on your speed-dial. But it does mean that up til 30 September, the grant will be the full $14,000 for existing homes and $21,000 for developed (new) homes. However, it will reduce to $10,500 for existing homes and $14,000 for developed homes from 1 October til 31 December. So the flurry of fun in the real estate market will remain.

Health Insurance

From 1 July 2010, a new tiered measure will affect how much government rebate you can claim, thus affecting the amount of your health insurance premiums per month. The existing 30% rebate will remain for young people with earning less than $75,000 per annum, but for salaries more than $75,000 per year the rebate will be reduced to 25%, and for salaries of $90,000 and above, the rebate will be reduced to 10%. Start assessing what bang for your buck you can squeeze out of your health insurers!

Infrastructure & transport spending to create jobs

Given the extra government spending on rail, road and infrastructure networks those studying engineering and currently working in the industry should mean additional job opportunities and project involvement. This extends to those in the country regions such as the Hunter Valley.

A Greener Nation

And while the carbon emissions trading scheme have been delayed, at least we can see the Government’s commitment to building a greener nation by the $4.5bn allocated to low emission coal technologies and solar initiatives. That means a lot more a cleaner future for all of us, we should hope!

From the AusTax team.

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