Transitional tax issues resulting from regulation of hedge funds

There are certain scenarios where the tax relief provided in the Taxation Laws Amendment Act (2015) to assist the hedge fund industry’s transition to a new regulated tax regime is limited and inapplicable to certain hedge fund’s trust structures. This is the case with the tax relief for asset-for-share and amalgamation transactions. It is proposed that provision be made to address these scenarios.

Taxation of real estate investment trusts

Qualifying distribution rule: Because recoupments such as building allowances previously claimed are included in the definition of gross income in section 1 of the Income Tax Act, they could affect the 75 per cent rental-income analysis used to determine qualifying distribution applicable to real estate investment trusts (REITs). It is proposed that the provisions relating to the qualifying distribution rule in section 25BB of the act be reviewed to remove this anomaly.

Interaction between REITs and section 9C: The current provisions of section 9C of the Income Tax Act are inappropriate for REITs. Dividends received from REITs are taxable, but expenditure incurred to produce these taxable dividends is effectively not deductible. To resolve this anomaly, it is proposed that a provision be added to the act that section 9C(5) does not apply to shares in REITs.

Solvency assessment and management framework for long-term insurers

The Insurance Bill, which gives effect to the Financial Services Board’s solvency assessment and management (SAM) framework for long-term and short-term insurers, is likely to come into operation in 2017. As a result, Parliament has proposed that the changes to align the tax valuation method for longterm insurers with SAM that were part of the 2015 Tax Laws Amendment Bill be further considered in 2016.