Barnaby Joyce (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to refer to the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 as to what expenditure qualifies. You can have certain kinds of capital expenditure as deductions. Depending on the kind of expenditure, you can do this either immediately or over a period of years. It is called capital allowance. To the bottom of that we have now included a subdivision, 40-J, clearly expressing that you can deduct amounts for capital expenditure incurred for the establishment of trees that meet the requirements for constituting a carbon sink forest. Unless the trees levitate they have to sit on something. That means the primary place they are likely to sit on is land; therefore, there is a clear nexus between the land, which we have all determined tonight is capital expenditure, and the trees. Between the periods 2007-08 and 2011-12, as determined by part 1 of schedule 8, it is an upfront tax deduction so, as to the period of time you get to deduct it over, it is one 100 per cent.

Question put:

That the amendments (Senator Milne’s, Senator Joyce’s and Senator Xenophon’s) be agreed to.