The States' Taxation Conference remains the only national conference covering all state and territory taxes in one technical program.
As in previous years, all state and territory Revenue Commissioners were in attendance together with representatives from their respective offices. With strong attendance from both the private and government sectors, the conference has always been a popular forum for interaction among delegates in the state taxes community. It is a particularly valuable conference for those delegates with practices operating across multiple jurisdictions. The conference continued to offer the opportunity to network with fellow practitioners and revenue officers during both the technical and social programs.
Considerable effort was made to present topics with content covering the legislation of all the states and territories. We have endeavoured to present topics of universal interest across all the state taxes. These include the Commissioners' reassessment and refund powers, and the current state of the law affecting charities.
Following on from the very popular format last year, the usual update on significant cases was followed by an expert panel discussion drawing out the practical implications from the key cases. Duties-specific topics included developments in landholder duty and the determination of dutiable value. Payroll tax topics included the treatment of contractors and emerging issues. As always, the conference materials will be a valuable research resource for years to come.