EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Veterans' Entitlements (Primary Production Concession) Principles 2001
Summary
Section 52ZZZQ of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1991 (the Veterans' Entitlements Act) provides that the Commission may formulate principles to be complied with by the Commission when making decisions under a number of sections of the Veterans' Entitlements Act, including paragraph 52ZZZF(1)(f), 52ZZZH, subsection 52ZZZJ(2), and sections 52ZZZK and 52ZZZL.
The purpose of the attached instrument is to set out decision-making principles that the Commission must comply with in making determinations under these provisions. These determinations relate to the way in which the trusts and companies measure affects primary production businesses.
Background
The Social Security and Veterans’ Entitlements Legislation Amendment (Private Trusts and Private Companies – Integrity of Means Testing) Act 2000 amended the Social Security Act 1991 and the Veterans' Entitlements Act to give effect to a measure in the Government's 2000-2001 Budget to revise the means test treatment of private companies and private trusts. The measure aims to ensure that income support pensioners who hold their assets in private companies or private trusts receive comparable treatment under the means test to those income support pensioners who hold their assets directly. The assets and income of the structure will be attributed to the person or persons who control the company or trust, or to the person or persons who were the source of the capital or corpus of the company or trust.
Explanation of the provisions
Part 1
Section 1 of the Principles states the name of the disallowable instrument and section 2 states that the Principles commence on gazettal. Section 3 contains interpretation provisions. Section 4 sets out the purpose of the instrument.
Part 2
Section 5 sets out the purpose of Part 2 of the instrument. This is to provide decision-making principles that can be used in making a determination, under paragraph 52ZZZF(1)(f), that a person is eligible for concessional primary production treatment under Division 11A of Part IIIB of the Veterans' Entitlements Act, even though that person, and their spouse, has not earned any primary production income in the past three financial years.
Section 6 provides, in summary, that the Commission must consider whether an individual has had a long-term connection with primary production, even though he or she does not satisfy the requirements of subparagraphs 52ZZZF(1)(e)(i), (ii) and (iii). An individual will be taken to have had a long-term connection with primary production if, for a period of 20 years, he or she has been involved in carrying on one or more primary production enterprises, has contributed a significant part of his or her labour to carrying on such enterprises and has directly or indirectly derived a significant part of his or her income from those enterprises. This 20-year period can be one continuous period or made up of 2 periods which total twenty years together.
Section 7 provides, in summary, that where a primary production enterprise was being carried on by a person or entity, other than the individual, or his or her spouse, or an entity controlled by the individual, or his or her spouse, at any time in the three year period prior to the test time (ie. the former owner of the enterprise) then the Commission must consider the average net income of the primary production enterprise over the prior three years. The Commission must also consider whether there would have been any reductions or adjustments to that average income if the primary production enterprise had been carried on by the individual, or his or her spouse, or an entity controlled by the individual, or his or her spouse.
Part 3
Section 8 sets out the purpose of Part 3 of the instrument. This is to provide decision-making principles that can be used in making a determination, under subsection 52ZZZH(2), as to the part of a specified liability that can be used to reduce the value of an asset owned by a company or trust for the purposes of determining whether a trust is a concessional primary production trust under Subdivision K of Division 11A of Part IIIB of the Veterans' Entitlements Act.
Section 9 provides that the Commission must consider whether the liability arose as a result of a genuine arm’s length transaction. In short, a transaction will fall into this category if it relates to the specific business activities of the company or trust, is not an agreement involving a minor (as defined in subsection 9(4)) and is in the form of a written agreement signed by each party to the transaction and witnessed by an independent person.
Part 4
Section 10 sets out the purpose of Part 4 of the instrument. This is to provide decision-making principles that can be used in making a determination, under subsection 52ZZZJ(2), that an asset, which would otherwise be an asset controlled by an individual, is taken, for the purposes of determining whether a trust is a concessional primary production trust under Subdivision K of Division 11A of Part IIIB of the Veterans' Entitlements Act, not to be controlled by the individual.
Section 11 provides that in making this determination the Commission needs to consider whether it is likely that, having regard to those decision-making principles set out in Part 2 of the Veterans' Entitlements (Attributable Stakeholders and Attribution Percentages) Principles 2001, the individual would be considered to be an attributable stakeholder of the company or trust that owns the asset. If the asset is owned by a concessional primary-production trust, the Commission must consider the likelihood that, but for this fact, the individual would be considered to be an attributable stakeholder of the trust.
Part 5
Section 12 sets out the purpose of Part 5 of the instrument. This is to provide decision-making principles that can be used in making a determination, under subparagraph 52ZZZK(2)(a)(ii) or (b)(ii), that the adjusted net value of an asset controlled by an individual is, for the purposes of determining whether a trust is a concessional primary production trust under Subdivision K of Division 11A of Part IIIB of the Veterans' Entitlements Act, less than 100%.
Section 13 provides that in making this determination the Commission needs to consider whether it is likely that, having regard to those decision-making principles set out in Part 2 of the Veterans' Entitlements (Attributable Stakeholders and Attribution Percentages) Principles 2001, the individual would be considered to be an attributable stakeholder of the company or trust that owns the asset. If the asset is owned by a concessional primary-production trust, the Commission must consider the likelihood that, but for this fact, the individual would be considered to be an attributable stakeholder of the trust. If the Commission does consider that it is likely that the individual would have been considered to be an attributable stakeholder of the company or trust, then the Commission must also consider what would be the individual’s likely asset attribution percentage in relation to the company or trust, taking Part 3 of the Veterans' Entitlements (Attributable Stakeholders and Attribution Percentages) Principles 2001 into account.
Part 6
Section 14 sets out the purpose of Part 6 of the instrument. This is to provide decision-making principles that can be used in making a determination, under subparagraph 52ZZZL(1)(b)(ii) or (c)(ii), that, for the purposes of determining whether a trust is a concessional primary production trust under Subdivision K of Division 11A of Part IIIB of the Veterans' Entitlements Act, less than 100% of the net income generated by a primary production enterprise, which was carried on by a company or trust that was a controlled private company or trust in relation to the individual for the tax year, applies to the individual.
Section 15 provides that in making this determination the Commission needs to consider whether it is likely that, having regard to those decision-making principles set out in Part 2 of the Veterans' Entitlements (Attributable Stakeholders and Attribution Percentages) Principles 2001, the individual would be considered to be an attributable stakeholder of a company or trust that owns the asset. If the asset is owned by a concessional primary-production trust, the Commission must consider the likelihood that, but for this fact, the individual would be considered to be an attributable stakeholder of the trust. If the Commission does consider that it is likely that the individual would have been considered to be an attributable stakeholder of the company or trust, then the Commission must also consider what would be the individual’s likely income attribution percentage in relation to the company or trust, taking Part 4 of the Veterans' Entitlements (Attributable Stakeholders and Attribution Percentages) Principles 2001 into account.