Taxation is one of the most complicated areas of law.  In Australia, the length of the Taxation Legislation surpassed the length of the Bible in 1993.  It is subject of public debate how complicated the tax system is and how difficult it can be to comply with the taxation system.  This is why you really need advice to help you navigate the maze of laws, rules and regulations which have come to make up the Australian Taxation system.

What is the Taxation Law comprised of?

At the absolute most basic level, legislation governs the operation of taxation in Australia.  The area where it appears that the most litigation, dispute and controversy emerges is the application of the GST.  The GST is  governed by two main pieces of legislation.  There is A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax Administration) Act 1999 (CTH) which introduced the tax that would never be introduced in Australia in conjunction with the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (CTH).

Another highly important area of taxation law is Income Tax.  This is at both a company and an individual level.  The two major pieces of legislation which govern the operation of Income Tax are the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (CTH) and the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (CTH).  Together, these two acts set out the basis for all personal and company income tax.

Interestingly, the international aspects of taxation are dealt with in the International Tax Agreements Act 1953 (CTH) This involves the operation of taxation law at the international level and the complex relationships of treaties preventing double taxation across international borders.  A little known area of the taxation law is the law relating to the enforcement of the payment of superannuation.  Superannuation is the the compulsorily payment made towards the retirement savings of employees.  It is not very well known that an employer can be fined by the ATO for not paying superannuation and be made to pay interest and penalties for this.  This area of the taxation law is governed by the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 (CTH).

Because of the enormous complexity of the taxation law, it can be a great benefit to have professional legal advice in relation to the operation of the taxation law.  Although they may save you some money, more importantly, they can prevent you from making a mistake that you may regret for the rest of life and getting sued by a state or federal revenue authority.  If you have an inquiry about tax law, please do not hesitate to contact us.  We are online during business hours to answer our queries and we also accept queries via the contact for the right.  Alternatively, you can post your question in the box below and a lawyer should answer you instantly.

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