House of Representatives

Explanatory Memorandum

(Circulated by authority of the Treasurer, the Hon. John Howard, M.P.)

General outline

The Bill will amend the income tax law to :

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allow the provision of additional information on employment to the Australian Statistician and remove a restriction on the purposes for which such information may be used;

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exempt from tax income derived by the Phosphate Mining Company of Christmas Island Limited;

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give effect to the proposal announced on 3 March 1982 to exempt from income tax certain pensions related to war-time persecution or disablement received by Australian residents from the Federal Republic of Germany and from the Netherlands;

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exempt from income tax profits made on the sale or redemption of securities purchased or acquired at a discount on or before 30 June 1982, other than profits made by traders or dealers and profits to which section 26AAA, section 26C or paragraph 26(a) of the Income Tax Assessment Act refers (proposal announced on 23 July 1982);

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grant income tax deductions for gifts of the value of $2 or more:

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made after 31 May 1982 to the Connellan Airways Trust (proposal announced on 31 May 1982);

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made after 30 June 1982 to the Queensland Cultural Centre Trust (proposal announced on 16 June 1982);

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made during the 1981-82 and 1982-83 financial years to a public fund in Australia established and maintained exclusively for the relief of Falkland Islanders, British servicemen or the families of Islanders or servicemen affected by the Falkland Islands dispute (proposal announced on 21 June 1982);

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made during the 1981-82 financial year to a public fund in Australia established and maintained exclusively for the relief of victims of the Tongan cyclone disaster (proposal announced on 29 June 1982);

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made during the 1981-82 financial year to a public fund in Australia established and maintained exclusively or principally for the relief of persons in Poland (proposal announced on 29 June 1982);

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counter further tax avoidance schemes of the "expenditure recoupment" type (proposal announced on 9 February 1982);

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make it clear that certain dividends that are satisfied by a bona fide issue of shares or debentuures can be taken into account as part of a sufficient distribution of profits by a private company (proposal announced on 20 January 1982).