Grants and subsidies
Generally, amounts received by way of grants or subsidies will be assessable either as ordinary income or statutory income.
For information on grants and subsidies, see Taxation Ruling TR 2006/3 – Income tax: government payments to industry to assist entities (including individuals) to continue, commence or cease business.
Profit from forced disposal or death of livestock
You can elect to spread profit from the forced disposal or death of livestock over a period of five years. Alternatively, you can elect to defer the profit and use it to reduce the cost of replacement livestock in the disposal year or any of the next five income years. Any unused part of the profit is included in assessable income in the fifth income year.
An election to spread or defer profits can be made where you dispose of the stock, or they die, because:
- land is compulsorily acquired or resumed under an Act
- a state or territory leases land for a cattle tick eradication campaign
- pasture or fodder is destroyed by fire, drought or flood and you will use the proceeds of the disposal or death mainly to buy replacement stock or maintain breeding stock for the purpose of replacing the livestock
- they are compulsorily destroyed under an Australian law for the control of a disease (including bovine tuberculosis) or they die of such a disease, or
- you receive official notification under an Australian law dealing with contamination of property.
Insurance recoveries
Where you have an assessable insurance recovery for loss of livestock or loss by fire of trees that were assets of a primary production business carried on in Australia, you can elect to include the amount in assessable income in equal instalments over five years.
Double wool clips
Tax relief is available in relation to the proceeds of the sale of two wool clips arising in an income year because of an early shearing caused by drought, fire or flood.
A wool grower can elect to defer the profit on the sale of the clip from the advanced shearing to the next year.