Fed: Tax office confirms couriers not affected by tax changes

AAP General News (Australia)
08-21-2001
Fed: Tax office confirms couriers not affected by tax changes

SYDNEY, Aug 21 AAP - Courier owner-drivers appear to have won their battle to be excluded
from a new tax ruling they claim would send them bankrupt.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) today confirmed that courier owner-drivers who
operate under typical industry contracts would be considered independent contractors.

Those drivers would therefore not be affected by the new alienation of personal service
measure, which could have seen slugged with an extra $250 a week in tax, the ATO said
in a statement.

But the Transport Workers Union (TWU), which has been campaigning against the new tax
ruling, said while the announcement was a major step forward, the union would wait to
read the fine print before declaring victory.

"We've been told before that we have been exempt, this is a step forward, but we'll
wait to see this is writing before declaring a settlement," TWU state secretary Tony Sheldon
said.

The ATO announcement comes a day after a state-wide courier strike in NSW against the
controversial rulings.

It also comes after a group of courier drivers walked from Sydney to Canberra to take
their concerns to the federal government.

The seven couriers arrived yesterday in Canberra and were met by hundreds of other
protesting couriers concerned about the changes.

The owner-drivers had insisted they were genuine contractors caught up in a tax change
designed to plug tax avoidance by employees posing as contractors.

Contractors who set themselves up as small businesses qualify for the 30 per cent company
tax rate, and thus avoid personal rates of up to 47 per cent.

The ATO said after a month of consultation with courier and taxi truck industry operators
it was satisfied that contractors who operated under typical industry contracts lodged
with the tax office would be exempt from the new tax ruling.

AAP nd/hu/br

KEYWORD: COURIERS

2001 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.