RECENT ASSIGNMENT

Written Assessment
Worth 25%
Due Friday 16th April 2021 @ 11.59 pm
Henry told us in his guide to the Institutional Framework of Taxation in Australia that the Australian Taxation System is one of the most complex in the world and is made up of approximately 125 taxes including taxes such as Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Fringe Benefits Tax and Goods and Services Tax. He also mentioned that there are many different organisations that play different and important roles within this system to ensure its integrity and that all Australians are treated equally and with equity.
The Australian Taxation System is embedded in the way of life for all Australian taxpayers. We pay tax on our income, we pay tax when we purchase goods and use services, and we pay tax when we sell assets, to name a few. In return the Government provides public services and benefits e.g. hospitals, schools, defence, and financial assistance to those in need etc.
As we know the government relies heavily on the revenue from taxation to be able to finance its activities and the services it offers to the public. As such, reforms and reviews on taxation are often the focus of the Australian government.
This also can apply to other countries as well who use their taxation systems to ensure the smooth running of their countries finances and to assist the country in times of need. This was clearly evident in the recent Covid-19 crisis where many businesses and individual taxpayers had to be assisted by their governments and a lot of assistance came from taxation authorities. As countries recover from Covid-19 they need to ensure that their economies are also recovering to ensure the ongoing support of essential services that taxation helps to support.
Your task will be to look at this topical area of taxation and to comply with the instructions below.

Required
This assessment requires you to comment and offer your opinion on how the Australian Government’s policy to allow eligible businesses with an aggregated turnover of less than $5 billion to deduct the full cost of new eligible depreciating assets that are first held and first used or installed ready for use for a taxable purpose on and before 30th June 2022.

There are 2 parts to this assessment
Part One - Worth 5%
Review traditional and online media (i.e. newspapers, reputable online news sites etc.) that discuss this measure.
You need to find 10 articles which relate to the topic/s above. These articles need to be attached and submitted with your assignment. The articles should be from the years 2020/2021 only.
If you do not have access to actual newspapers then you may use the Factiva Database within the Curtin Library. A factsheet on how to use this database and a short video presentation is included in the assessment link for this assignment on the Blackboard.
You may also use online news sources.
Importantly, the articles must be scanned or saved as PDF files and uploaded to the Blackboard in the appropriate area within the assessment tab.
Please note we will not accept links to the articles.

Part Two - Worth 20%
After reading the articles and exploring the issue in more detail you will need to write an essay, of no more than 2,500 words, exploring:
How this measure introduced by the Australian Government will help the economy recovery and assist businesses affected by the Covid-19 restrictions to move forward in their recovery efforts
In your essay, you should address questions such as:
1. Define the new measures regarding the immediate deduction of plant and equipment introduced by the Government
2. Discuss the type of taxpayers the measures are aimed
3. In your opinion, should the measures be given to all business taxpayers or limited to small businesses, outline your reasoning for your opinion
4. In your opinion, will these measures help to stimulate the economy as per the Government policy intention?
5. Has there been an increase in spending on plant and equipment that you can see to date or it is too early determine?
6. Overall do you think this measure is effective and should it be expanded past the end date?
Formal requirements
Part two requires you to produce a 2500 word essay on the above points and to express your opinion of this topic which should be based on your findings from the articles you have collected and any other research you may want to undertake.
Please do not just provide a detailed summary of the articles you have included in Part One.
You must complete and attach the cover page (provided on Blackboard) and include a reference list in your essay.
The word limit does not take into account the cover page or references. A maximum excess of 10% is allowed on the word limit.