Income Tax Assessment Act 1997

CHAPTER 4 - INTERNATIONAL ASPECTS OF INCOME TAX

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PART 4-5 - GENERAL

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Division 770 - Foreign income tax offsets

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History

Div 770 inserted by No 143 of 2007 , s 3 and Sch 1 item 1, applicable in relation to income years, statutory accounting periods and notional accounting periods starting on or after the first 1 July that occurs after 24 September 2007. No 143 of 2007 , s 3 and Sch 1 Pt 6 contains the following savings provisions:

Part 6 - Savings provisions
Object
225
The object of this Part is to ensure that, despite the repeals and amendments made by this Act, the full legal and administrative consequences of:

(a) any act done or omitted to be done; or

(b) any state of affairs existing; or

(c) any period ending;
before such a repeal or amendment applies, can continue to arise and be carried out, directly or indirectly through an indefinite number of steps, even if some or all of those steps are taken after the repeal or amendment applies.
Making and amending assessments, and doing other things, in relation to past matters
226
Even though an Act is repealed or amended by this Act, the repeal or amendment is disregarded for the purpose of doing any of the following under any Act or legislative instrument (within the meaning of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 ):

(a) making or amending an assessment (including under a provision that is itself repealed or amended);

(b) exercising any right or power, performing any obligation or duty or doing any other thing (including under a provision that is itself repealed or amended);
in relation to any act done or omitted to be done, any state of affairs existing, or any period ending, before the repeal or amendment applies.

Example:

For the 2006-07 income year, Smart Investor Pty Ltd, an Australian resident private investment company, has assessable foreign income in the passive income class on which it has paid foreign tax for which it wishes to claim a foreign tax credit. The company also has a tax loss for the year from its Australian investments. When it lodges its tax return for the year it does not elect to claim a deduction for any of the tax loss under section 79DA of the ITAA 1936, because the Australian tax payable on its passive foreign income equals the foreign tax it has paid.

In 2009 the amount of foreign tax payable in respect of some foreign rental income it had included in its return for the 2006-07 year is reduced and Smart Investor receives a refund of the difference in foreign tax. Smart Investor Pty Ltd then applies to be able to make an election under section 79DA , that is, after the Tax Laws Amendment (2007 Measures No 4) Act 2007 (which repeals section 79DA ) receives Royal Assent. The Commissioner allows Smart Investor to submit an election to claim a deduction for so much of its 2006-07 tax loss as to reduce the amount of Australian tax payable on its 2006-07 assessable foreign income to the revised foreign tax paid, by the end of 2009.

Despite the repeal of section 79DA , item 226 allows the Commissioner to permit an election to be lodged after the return for 2006-07 has been lodged, and to amend Smart Investor ' s assessment for that year, because these actions relate to a thing done, and period ending, before the repeal of section 79DA applies.

Subdivision 770-A - Entitlement rules for foreign income tax offsets

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Basic entitlement rule for foreign income tax offset

SECTION 770-15 Meaning of foreign income tax, credit absorption tax and unitary tax

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770-15(1)
Foreign income tax means tax that:

(a) is imposed by a law other than an *Australian law; and

(b) is:

(i) tax on income; or

(ii) tax on profits or gains, whether of an income or capital nature; or

(iii) any other tax, being a tax that is subject to an agreement having the force of law under the International Tax Agreements Act 1953 .

Note:

Foreign income tax includes only that which has been correctly imposed in accordance with the relevant foreign law or, where the foreign jurisdiction has a tax treaty with Australia (having the force of law under the International Tax Agreements Act 1953 ), has been correctly imposed in accordance with that tax treaty.

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770-15(2)
Credit absorption tax means a tax imposed by a law of a foreign country, or of any part of, or place in, a foreign country to the extent that the tax would not have been payable if the entity concerned or another entity had not been entitled to an offset in respect of the tax under this Division.

770-15(3)
Unitary tax means a tax imposed by a law of a foreign country, or of any part of, or place in, a foreign country, being a law which, for the purposes of taxing income, profits or gains of a company derived from sources within that country, takes into account, or is entitled to take into account, income, losses, outgoings or assets of the company (or of a company that for the purposes of that law is treated as being associated with the company) derived, incurred or situated outside that country, but does not include tax imposed by that law if that law only takes those matters into account:

(a) if such an associated company is a resident of the foreign country for the purposes of the law of the foreign country; or

(b) for the purposes of granting any form of relief in relation to tax imposed on dividends received by one company from another company.

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