This Senate report reviews new amendments to taxation laws and recommends that they be passed.

The Tax Laws Amendment (2011 Measures No. 8) Bill 2011 and the Pay As You Go Withholding Non-compliance Tax Bill 2011 were introduced by the Government into the House of Representatives on 13 October 2011.

On 3 November 2011, the Senate referred the provisions of the Bills to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 8 February 2012.

The Bills amend various taxation laws to:

• provide the Commissioner of Taxation with discretion to disregard certain events that would otherwise trigger the assessment of certain income for a primary production trust;
• clarify that the taxing point for the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) is when a product reaches its final form, rather than when its chemical composition first meets the definition of a marketable petroleum commodity;
• extend the director penalty regime to make directors personally liable for their company's unpaid superannuation guarantee amounts (schedule 3 to TLAB 8 and the PAYG(W) Bill); and
• make minor consequential amendments to the taxation arrangements for gaseous fuels.