Calling all Young Tax Professionals in Queensland

To help nurture the future of the tax profession, the Young Tax Professionals (YTP) stream at the upcoming Queensland Tax Forum has been specially designed for those who have less than five years’ experience in tax, and need to build and further develop their technical skills.

This specialised stream includes three technical sessions, and a session from the ATO, as well as the chance to mingle with colleagues and meet leaders from the profession during the breaks and over a drink at the end of the day.

Kicking off with some lunch and the opportunity to catch up with your peers, the stream’s first sessions is ‘Issues and challenges for revenue vs capital’, from Trevor Pascall, CTA (Crowe Horwath).

The revenue/capital distinction is an important part of every practitioner’s knowledge base.

Recent issues in practice, and matters arising in ATO audit activity, keep revenue/capital at the forefront of our minds. Trevor will revisit the core concepts of the revenue/capital distinction, and look at the practical actions and behaviours of clients which will influence whether something gives rise to a revenue gain or a capital gain.

Following Trevor is Leisa Rafter, CTA, (BDO), with ‘GST concepts all tax practitioners should understand’. The GST is a multi-stage transaction tax relevant to all businesses operating in Australia. Accordingly, it is fundamentally important that all tax practitioners have a working knowledge of the law. This session considers in detail core concepts and some key areas of the law.

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Leisa said “Attendees will develop a practical and theoretical knowledge of the GST law and how it applies to the property industry, and leave with sufficient knowledge to provide basic GST advice to clients in the property space.”

In particular, Leisa will cover: the categories of supplies under the GST Law, GST treatment of different types of real property, a consideration of the margin scheme, and GST compliance concepts.

Finally, Matthew Burgess, CTA, (View Legal) presents the ‘Trusts intensive’ session.

The income tax treatment of trusts can be complex and is often misunderstood. Matthew’s session will explain some of the confusing aspects of trust taxation and is designed to give YTP attendees some context and background to some of the common issues that they might need to consider in practice.

Key topics covered by Matthew in this session will include an overview of the nature of “trusts”, the way in which beneficiaries are defined, trust-to-trust distributions and perpetuity rules, and implications of failed distributions.

Following Matthew’s session, YTP attendees will re-join the rest of the Forum’s delegates for some afternoon tea, and then hear from the Australian Taxation Office’s Nicole Dykstra about ‘The ATO’s Tax Gap Research program’.

There has never been as much focus on whether taxpayers are paying the right amount of tax as there is today. The ATO’s Tax Gap Research program provides a quantitative basis to ensure that we have an informed discussion on these issues.

Nicole’s session will cover the what, why, and types of tax gaps – definitions and descriptions, challenges and benefits, different approaches for different gaps to deliver reliable, credible and meaningful gaps, quality and assurance – independent expert reviews, and some insights and observations.

The Young Professional’s Stream represents excellent value and an ideal training and development opportunity, at only $175. Find out more about the stream and the rest of the Queensland Tax Forum program on our website, and join us 23-24 August, in Brisbane.