Election 2022: Bills not passed
Now that the Federal Election has been called for 21 May 2022, and with the Governor-General proroguing the Senate and dissolving the House of Representatives, the government is now in caretaker mode, meaning that major decisions cannot be implemented during this period until the results of the election are clear.
This is bad news for any Bills that had not passed both Houses and the associated me assures they were supposed to implement. These Bills have now either lapsed – if they were still before the House of Representatives when the election was called – or optimistically on-hold if they were still before the Senate.
Some of the lapsed business measures include: allowing small business entities to apply to the Small Business Taxation Division of the AAT for an order staying the operation or implementation of certain decisions by the ATO, thereby reducing the cost for small businesses of having to apply to a Court for a stay; giving power to the ATO to direct a business entity to complete an approved record-keeping course in lieu of imposing penalties for failing to comply with record-keeping obligations in some circumstances; and allowing taxpayers to self-assess the effective life of certain intangible depreciating assets that they start to hold on or after 1 July 2023.
Some of the superannuation and financial services measures contained in Bills that have now lapsed include: establishing a framework for compensation scheme of last resort to facilitate compensation payments to up to $150,000 to eligible consumers who have received a relevant determination from AFCA which was unpaid; implementing remaining recommendations from the Hayne Royal Commission; and allowing age pensioners and certain veterans to have their social security payments suspended for up to 2 years instead of cancelled if their income from employment is over the payment threshold.
For Bills that have lapsed (i.e. those that were before the House of Representatives), if the next government decides to proceed with the measures, it will necessitate the introduction of new legislation. This may be one hurdle too many if the incoming government does not have a clear majority or wants a clean slate on legislation.
Bills before the Senate when it was prorogued are still considered to be “active” but whether they proceed when Parliament resumes will largely depend on the makeup of the next Parliament.
Some of these measures include: requirement for electronic distribution platform operators (i.e. operators in the sharing economy) to provide information to the ATO about transactions made through their platform; removal of the $250 threshold for the deduction of self-education expenses; and removal of responsible lending obligations with exception of small amount credit contracts.
The Bills and measures outlined above do not include some of the more recent Budget promises made by the Morrison government such as those aimed at small businesses, including the 20% deduction boost for skills training and digital adoption, which had not yet been introduced into Parliament and is likely to fall by the wayside if the current government is not returned with a clear majority.
