The Government has announced that reforms to the tax benefit test in Part IVA will be introduced into Parliament by the end of 2012. These changes will be the first significant amendments to the core provisions of Part IVA since it was introduced in 1981. Part IVA continues to be among the most important, controversial and complex parts of the Australian tax system and will be discussed from the perspective of its efficacy, workability and fairness, having regard to global comparisons.