Scott Ryan (Victoria, Liberal Party, Special Minister of State) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill may proceed without formalities and be now read a first time.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a first time.

by leave—I move:

That the provisions of paragraphs (5) to (8) of standing order 111 not apply to the bill, allowing it to be considered during this period of sittings.

I table a statement of reasons justifying the need for this bill to be considered during these sittings and seek leave to have the statement incorporated into Hansard.

Leave granted.

The statement read as follows—

Purpose of the Bill

The purpose of this bill is to give force of law to the new Australia-Germany Double Taxation Agreement.

Key benefits for Australia would include implementation of the G20/Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project recommended tax treaty integrity rules, access to reduced rates of withholding tax on dividends, interest and royalties, and new clauses allowing arbitration for unresolved tax disputes and mutual assistance in the collection of tax debts.

Reasons for Urgency

This treaty contains new rules applying to specified pension payments commencing from 1 January 2017. It is therefore desirable that the new treaty is in force before that date.

In addition, Germany expects to complete its domestic implementation processes in September 2016 to allow the new treaty to take effect in Germany from 1 January 2017.

If the bill is not passed in the 2016 Spring sittings, the treaty will not take effect for withholding tax and German income tax purposes until 1 January 2018, delaying taxpayer access to the treaty benefits for a further year.

Question agreed to.