5
GST UPDATE
Draft Tax Determination for Speaker's Gifts
The Australian Tax Office has recently issued a draft determination
dealing with speaker's gifts. This document followed the raising of strong
concerns by MIAA on behalf of its members with the earlier draft ruling
issued in relation to these gifts (where an arbitrary figure of $50 was set
and the ridiculous situation of having to share the cost of the gift with the
speaker which would have resulted).
The good news is that the draft determination is a major
improvement on the previous position. It shows that persistence on this
issue pays off as MIAA had argued strongly with the ATO that surely
what matters most is for which reason the (unpaid) speaker agreed to
speak - usually not in anticipation of the gift. This nexus argument has
been accepted.
The main thing for our members to note in the draft is that any gift
provided to a paid speaker forms part of that consideration, so you may
wish to consider amending any practice of providing gifts to both paid and
unpaid speakers.
Also with unpaid speakers there will be a fine line where a gift
becomes so expensive as to be caught up in the GST net.
Fortunately
this latter situation is not as common.
For example, the determination
suggests that a $300 sports watch would be considered as requiring an
invoice exchange.
MIAA has responded in a generally favourable way to the draft. The
final determination will not be out at least until August, so treat any
guidance in this area as interim only. The full draft determination is
available in the member's only section of MIAAnet,
at
www.miaanet.com.au.
GST and a NZ Conference
Many associations hold conferences in either Australia or New Zealand.
Advice sought from MIAA in the past few months indicates that the
handling of the GST issues relating to New Zealand conferences has
caused much confusion.
Advice received from the ATO not long after the GST was introduced
confirmed that the Australian GST does not apply to training
events/conferences held overseas. Therefore, an Australian PCO acting
for a local client does not have to include Australian GST on the delegate
registration fees. However, this does not mean that New Zealand GST
can be ignored. In the same way that a conference for an international
client held in Australia attracts Australian GST on the registration fee, a
conference held in New Zealand needs to include the NZ GST. New
Zealand laws relating to the GST need to be complied with, and
Australian delegates to the NZ will not be able to claim back the GST in
Australia.
If you are having difficulties with managing the GST, have a
look in the member's only section of the website
(www.miaanet.com.au) and give us a call if it is still not clear.
Industry News
IN THE COMING MONTHS
, MIAA faces a number of issues on the
lobbying front. Firstly, we need to firmly back up our 10 Year Tourism
Plan Submission by active participation in the discussions that will
follow. We also need to pursue the GST contra issue to its
conclusion. Other key players in the industry, including the
Association of Australian Convention Bureaux and the Business
Events Council of Australia (BECA) will also be active in these areas.
Our membership of BECA is also delivering the much needed
progress in the research area. Most recently a range of meetings
have occurred to finalise the approach to be taken to updating the
data on the size and worth of the industry. The research will be done
with the support of the Tourism Cooperative Research Centre with
financial contributions from the Australian
Tourist Commission, the AACB and
ourselves. The results of the research project
will be very useful as an aid in industry
planning as well as a lobbying tool.
Regards,
Jenny Lambert
CEO's Corner
VIRGIN BLUE AND UNITED AIRLINES CODE
SHARE AGREEMENT TO DELIVER TOURISM
BENEFITS
The recent announcement of a code share agreement by Virgin Blue and
United Airlines was good news for Australia's tourism industry,
Australian Tourist Commission (ATC) Managing Director Ken Boundy
said recently.
"The new code share will offer seamless travel to Virgin Blue
destinations for US visitors travelling with United Airlines - with ease of
booking and smooth transfers in Australia. While Australia's tourism
industry continues to face a number of aviation challenges, this is
definitely a step in the right direction."
REBUILDING THE JAPANESE TOURIST MARKET
An Action Plan to help restore Australia's share of the Japanese
outbound tourism market recommends the formation of an Industry-
Government Working Group to oversee the implementation of 38 key
actions directed at turning around declines in the market.
The `action-focussed' report, Building Momentum: Japanese Tourism
to Australia, was prepared by the Department of Industry, Tourism and
Resources (DITR) to provide a better understanding of the factors behind
falling numbers of Japanese tourists visiting Australia.
THE UK VOTES SYDNEY THEIR FAVOURITE
INTERNATIONAL CITY
For the second year running Sydney has been voted the UK's Favourite
Overseas City by readers of UK publications The Guardian and The
Observer.
I N D U S T R Y N E W S
