THE Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) has reiterated its call for compensation for accountants’ lost time and productivity due to the failure of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) technology.

“We are constantly being reassured by the ATO that it will fix its system going forward and practitioners can expect more robust ATO interactions from the deployment of better technology in 2017.  These reassurances are now falling on deaf ears of our members when the portal goes down for two days this week,” said IPA chief executive officer, Andrew Conway.

“In 2015, the ATO acknowledged that its use of technology and administrative changes combined with the existing ATO portal issues have added to the frustrations and lost productivity for many small tax practitioners.

"The portal downtime this week coincides with the release of the Inspector General of Taxation (IGT) report (Review into the Taxpayers’ Charter and Taxpayer Protections) which highlight deficiencies in the Compensation for Detriment Causes by Defective Administration (CDDA) scheme.  The report confirms that the CCDA scheme does not adequately address productivity loss, opportunity costs (particularly for tax practitioners) or psychological injury.  It further states that the CCDA scheme does not adequately compensate for losses arising from major ATO changes in process or IT.

“Most tax agent practitioners are small businesses themselves working hard to service the interests of their clients.

“Our members have highlighted to us on many occasions that they have suffered productivity loss, missed deadlines, and incurred irrecoverable costs as well as damage to their reputations and relationships with their clients.

“We have and continue to provide the ATO with real examples of these practical issues.

“Our member feedback has consistently stated that the ATO portal which is an essential tool of trade for practitioners and agents has been a constant point of frustration due to the portal’s instability and unreliability. 

“We acknowledge the ATO is acutely aware of these issues and our obligation is to voice the concerns on behalf of our members.

“We will continue to work with the ATO to ensure the system is fixed for all concerned,” said Mr Conway.

publicaccountants.org.au

BRISBANE has taken out fourth spot in a prestigious global ranking of cities vying for foreign direct investment, and placed in the top 10 worldwide for human capital and lifestyle.

Queensland’s capital moved up one spot to place fourth out of 53 submitting cities in the Foreign Direct Investment Strategy category of the Global Cities of the Future report released every two years by fDi Intelligence – a division of the London-based Financial Times.

This year Brisbane also placed highly in the publication’s overall rankings of 131 cities worldwide, taking out 10^th position for human capital and lifestyle – just one spot behind London.

“Placing fourth for foreign direct investment strategy demonstrates that Brisbane is successfully showing the world that our city is economically resilient, supports foreign investors across a range of industry sectors, and is backed by a robust and connected business and government environment,” Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said.

“To be ranked within the top 10 globally for human capital and lifestyle is testament to the outstanding education, research, business, employment and lifestyle opportunities that continue to attract and retain talented and skilled people in our great city.”

The publication also named Brisbane winner of two inaugural awards for strategy, driven by the city’s economic development board, Brisbane Marketing.

Brisbane’s 2022 New World City Action Plan was recognised with the Strategic Vision Award, while the city’s successful tourism infrastructure and hotel investment strategy saw it win the Tourism Development Award.

“The Brisbane 2022 New World City Action Plan has put out city firmly on the path toward greater economic growth and prosperity by focusing on seven key economic priorities and eight promising growth sectors,” Cr Quirk said.

“Brisbane’s hotel investment and tourist attraction strategy focuses on building the tourism and visitation economy by attracting foreign direct investment into infrastructure such as cruise ship terminals, major tourist attractions, and four and five-star hotels.

“More than $10 billion worth of major project and infrastructure work in the pipeline will support greater numbers of tourists who are choosing our progressive and multicultural city for the wealth of unique experiences on offer.

“The latest fDi Intelligence rankings are another indicator that Brisbane is becoming a more globally competitive city which will continue to attract and benefit from foreign direct investment.” 

www.brisbanemarketing.com.au

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THE Trade Sub-Committee of the Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade (JSCFADT) has commenced an inquiry into Australia’s trade and investment relationship with its largest trading partner in Europe - the United Kingdom.

‘Following the United Kingdom’s referendum decision to leave the European Union, it is timely to conduct an inquiry into Australia’s trade relations with the UK,’ the Chair of the Trade Sub-Committee, Senator Bridget McKenzie said.

‘With two-way trade in goods and services worth more than $23 billion, the UK has long been a significant trade and investment partner for Australia. The Sub-Committee will investigate the opportunities to expand these trade and investment links, and the merits of a possible bilateral free trade agreement with the UK, especially as both countries navigate a new trading path with each other.’

‘This inquiry will include an examination of the possible implications for Australia’s trade and investment relationships with the UK and the EU, depending on how and when the UK negotiates its exit from the EU.’

The inquiry will also look at the significant UK investment in Australia and Australian investment in the UK. According to the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, the Hon Steven Ciobo MP, who referred the inquiry to the JSCFADT, UK businesses have direct investments worth $76 billion in Australia, rising to nearly $500 billion when portfolio and other investments are included. Australia had direct investments of $81 billion in the UK and $353 billion overall in 2015.

Tourism also remains another important export for Australia with nearly 700,000 British visitors coming to Australia last year, who collectively spent almost $4 billion in Australia. In 2015-16, the UK Office for National Statistics reported more than 600,000 Australians visited the UK.

The terms of reference for the Committee’s inquiry are as follows:

The Committee shall examine Australia’s trade and investment relationship with the United Kingdom (UK). The Committee shall have particular regard to:

• the nature of Australia’s current trade and investment relationship with the UK;
• possible implications for Australia’s trade and investment relationships with the UK and the European Union consequent to the UK’s exit from the European Union;
• barriers and impediments to trade and investment with the UK;
• opportunities to expand trade and investment links;
• the merits and risks of a possible bilateral free trade agreement with the UK, and potential features of such an agreement;
• the role of Australian governments (State, Territory and Federal) in identifying trade and investment opportunities in the UK, and assisting Australian exporters to access these opportunities; and
• any other related matters.

The Trade Sub-Committee invites submissions from anyone with an interest in the issues raised by these terms of reference.  Submissions addressing the terms of reference should be lodged by 17 February 2017.  Further details about the about the inquiry, including how to contribute, can be obtained from the Committee’s website or by contacting the Committee Secretariat.

Interested members of the public may wish to track the committee via the website. Click on the blue ‘Track Committee’ button in the bottom right hand corner and use the forms to login to My Parliament or to register for a My Parliament account.

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THE The Queensland Resources Council claims the "left-wing think tank" The Australia Institute (TAI) has been "caught out attempting to put a wrecking ball through Queensland’s economy and jobs with dodgy digits".

According to the QRC, the TAI report, ‘Never Gonna Dig You Up’, claimed the Queensland economy ‘would not be affected at all in the short term and barely affected’ in the medium to long term if coal mining ended.

QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane said the importance of the coal industry to Queensland’s economy had never been more critical to regional communities "and for TAI to produce a report about coal with a Western Australian gold mine on the front cover reflects how much they know about the industry".

The report claimed there would only be 1,400 net job losses across the country from ending coal mining in Queensland and NSW and that Australia would experience an overall reduction in GDP of 0.6 percent.

However, according to QRC, a review of TAI’s report by highly credentialed Cadence Economics found that the ‘research’ was based on unfounded assumptions and discounted critical economic impacts.

Key findings of the Cadence Economics analysis of the TAI report included:

• TAI’s entire paper is based on an unexplained and unrealistic assumptions regarding employment: TAI assumes the job losses caused by ending coal mining would be picked up by ‘other sectors,’ including having workers move from the coal producing regions of Queensland and NSW to Victoria and Western Australia. In other words, they assume that real jobs will be replaced by phantom ones. 

• TAI’s report significantly underestimates that the net number of coal jobs that would be lost from ending the coal industry: TAI claims net job losses would only be around 1,400. However, using the same employment modelling parameters as the Commonwealth Treasury, Cadence Economics estimates jobs lost would be between 20,000-40,000 across the nation. Even at the lower end that’s a TAI miscalculation of 18,600 jobs or 95 percent. 

• Impact on Queensland economy would be ‘catastrophic’: TAI’s own research glosses over the economic impact to Queensland which Cadence Economics describes as ‘catastrophic.’ As well as the significant job losses, ending the coal mining industry in Queensland would result in $3.8 billion in lost mining royalties and a staggering $72 billion total loss to the state’s economy. 

• Massive impact on the Mackay and Fitzroy regions: The TAI report virtually dismisses the disastrous impact that ending coal mining would have on the Mackay and Fitzroy regions. Using TAI’s own numbers, Cadence Economics estimates a cumulative economic loss for these regions of $28.3 billion. 

“These quasi-economic reports will only denigrate the natural resource sector’s ability to provide jobs in communities and royalties that pay for nurses, police and teachers,” Mr Macfarlane said.

“The authors of TAI report appear to have no understanding of economics and the figures put forward seem to be borne out of the centre for creative accountants. This report is yet another example of anti-coal activists holding back the economic prosperity of Queensland.”

www.qrc.org.au

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