Tax Pros See Australia Intangible Guidance as Strict, Burdensome

From some tax practitioners’ perspective, Australia’s new guidance on the potential risks related to companies’ trademarks, patents, and other intangible assets might cause as many problems as it solves.

The Australian Taxation Office issued final guidance last week on when corporate transactions involving intangibles might be viewed as attempts to dodge taxes. It’s aimed at giving companies more clarity about what kinds of intangible transactions the ATO regards as suspect, and what companies can do to prepare for the greater ATO scrutiny that might result.

But the guidance is too strict and saddles companies with big compliance and administrative burdens, ...