The ATO's draft ruling on royalties and the character of receipts in relation to software represents a departure from its historical approach in Taxation Ruling 93/12, which could have significant impact on businesses that are using or distributing software.
This presentation covers:
- Potential risks associated with different business models involving the use of software
- Interaction between the ATO's proposed approach and the legal lens around copyright
- Implications for transfer pricing analyses involving software distributors
- Potential approaches to apportionment of payments between the amounts for software copyright vis-à-vis amounts to secure other rights
- The likely impact on the assessment and collection of withholding taxes