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Instructions:
The assignment consists of one question with multiple parts. Answer all parts of the question.
Students must complete the assignment in pairs. Individual submissions will receive a mark of 0 for the
assignment.
Students are expected to take equal responsibility for the completion and submission of the answer.
Students are strongly advised to attempt the whole assignment individually and then work together on
the whole assignment to reach a final answer. Do not work on each part separately. Guidance on working
in pairs is available under the ‘Assignment’ section of the subject page. Students are advised to review
these guidelines prior to commencing work on the assignment.
Please ensure that only your student numbers are provided on your submission. Do not include your name
or tutorial details.
The assessment is compulsory and contributes 30% of the final assessment in this subject.
The assignment assesses Topics 1 to 3 (inclusive) of the course. Refer to Section 9 of the Subject Outline
for a list of topics.
Formal legal citation of legislation and cases is not required. Citation of cases and legislation should be in
the text of your answer in brackets. For example, Scott (1935); s 6-5 ITAA97. Do not use footnotes in your
answer. A bibliography is not required.
You may, and indeed you are encouraged, to refer between the parts of your answer where necessary,
rather than repeating your arguments or analysis.
You may use bullet points in answering the question but please ensure that the bullet points are easily
understood and are not too brief.
Common abbreviations may be used in your answer.
Guidance on answering hypothetical problems is available from the ‘Answering Hypotheticals Handout’;
the ‘skills lecture’ video; Chapter 2 of the textbook and online through the Legal Academic Skills Centre.
The assignment is an ‘authentic task’. It is designed to provide a real-world experience of professionals in
practice. As such, you are expected to collaborate with one other person in completing the task, a common
feature of professional practice.
Your answer will be assessed on the following criteria:
1. Identification of issues;
2. Identification and use of appropriate primary and secondary sources and ATO guidance (if any)
to support your argument;
3. Application of identified primary and secondary sources and ATO guidance to the facts in the
assignment question;
4. Strength and reasonableness of your argument based on the law and ATO guidance;
5. Clarity of writing and structure of your answer.
BLAW 30002 Assignment 2017 Page 4 of 4
Question
Norah is a qualified yoga instructor with her own business in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia.
She teaches over 60s yoga to improve their physical and mental wellbeing. Norah’s business model has
been quite successful and she estimates her monthly sales revenue to be at least $10,000. Most of the
sales revenue comes from the purchase of ‘10 class packages’ by clients. These packages are sold for $660
each and clients are required to attend the classes within two months of purchasing the package or forfeit
any unused classes. Norah also sells assorted health-related products such as massage balls and yoga mats.
She purchases these products directly from a manufacturer in India. Norah sometimes gives away these
products to long-term clients to reward them for their loyalty. She also gives away the products to friends
and family when she has too much stock. Recently, Norah expanded her business to include a small café
where clients can purchase assorted bread, fruit, coffee and tea (including various herbal teas). Norah
purchases these items from a local Melbourne supplier.
One of Norah’s clients, Pablo, is a Colombian scientist. Pablo moved to Australia in 2014 on a work visa
which entitles him to stay and work in Australia for a period of 5 years. He is a Colombian citizen and is not
a citizen or permanent resident of Australia. Pablo moved to Australia because he received an attractive
job offer with a large Australian firm. The job requires Pablo to be based in Australia but travel to the
company’s manufacturing plants in the Asian region to troubleshoot production issues. For the period 1
July 2016 to 30 June 2017, Pablo determined that he was only in Australia for approximately 3 months
(and forfeited many unused yoga classes!). Luckily, Pablo’s family moved with him to Australia in 2014.
They have set up a lovely home in Carlton and Pablo’s partner, Lisa, usually meets him wherever he is if he
is away for more than two weeks. However, Pablo’s children are in school and not able to travel as much
to see their father. When overseas, Pablo stays in short-term accommodation provided by the employer.
Pablo and his family feel quite settled in Australia even though Pablo is away so much. Pablo and his family
have made many friends in Carlton, participate in activities such as yoga with Norah and the local
badminton club, invested in Australian shares and opened Australian bank accounts. Pablo doesn’t know
what they will do when his visa expires as they would like to stay in Australia.
When she is not travelling to visit Pablo, Lisa earns some money by driving her car for a ride-sharing
company (Uber). She enjoys the work and finds it a good way to meet nice, interesting people. Lisa received
advice from a qualified tax agent that, as she was driving for Uber, she is required to register for GST
purposes and comply with her Australian GST obligations. However, a friend, Ray, told Lisa that he had
received a private ruling from the Australian Taxation Office advising him that he was not required to
register for GST as his income from driving for Uber was less than $75,000 per year. Lisa only earns
approximately $10,000 annually from driving for Uber and decided to ignore the advice from the tax agent.
Required:
(a) Advise Norah as to her GST obligations and consequences arising under the A New Tax System (Goods
and Services Tax) Act 1999 on the information above. (14 marks)
(b) Advise Pablo as to whether he is a resident of Australia for tax purposes for the year ended 30 June
2017. You may assume that he is not a member of a relevant superannuation fund. You may also
assume that he is not a ‘temporary resident’ for the purposes of subdivision 768-R ITAA97. (8 marks)
(c) Advise Lisa of her GST obligations and consequences arising under the A New Tax System (Goods and
Services Tax) Act 1999 in relation to her driving for Uber. You are also required to advise Lisa of any
potential consequences that may arise due to her failure to comply with her GST obligations. (8 marks)
You should include references to relevant legislation, case law and/or ATO rulings in your answer. If you
require any further information, state what that information is and why it is required. You are expected to
consider alternative consequences where a particular consequence is not clear or straightforward.