Private ruling: non-commercial losses
Published: October 2013
Ruling period: Year ended 30 June 2013
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 2012

Ruling: Q1: Will the Commissioner exercise the discretion in paragraph 35-55(1)(b) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997) to allow you to include any losses from your business activity in your calculation of taxable income for the 2012-13 financial year? | A1: No.

Relevant facts and circumstances: Your income for non-commercial loss purposes is less than $250,000. You were an employee in the 2012-13 financial year until you became self employed. You incurred expenses repairing and replacing vehicle equipment, attending staff and client meetings, home office set up and seeking professional advice.

Relevant legislative provisions: Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 subsection 35-10(1) | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 subsection 35-10(2) | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 subsection 35-10(2E) | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 paragraph 35-55(1)(b)

Reasons for decision: Summary: You have requested that the Commissioner exercise the discretion under paragraph 35-55(1)(b) of the ITAA 1997 for lead time. Under paragraph 35-55(1)(b) of the ITAA 1997, the Commissioner's discretion can be exercised where: · the business activity has started to be carried on but because of its nature it has not satisfied, or will not satisfy, one of the non-commercial loss tests set out in sections 35-30, 35-35, 35-40 or 35-45 of the ITAA 1997; and · there is an objective expectation that within a period that is commercially viable for the industry concerned the activity will meet one of the tests or produce assessable income for an income year greater than the deductions attributable to it for that year. Taxation Ruling TR 2007/6 sets out guidelines on how the Commissioner's discretion under paragraph 35-55(1)(b) of the ITAA 1997 may be exercised. The following has been extracted from paragraphs 70 to 104 of this ruling. The discretion is provided to ensure that certain individuals who carry on genuine commercial businesses are not disadvantaged due to particular circumstances which prevent them from satisfying one of the tests. This arm of the safeguard discretion will ensure that the loss deferral rule in section 35-10 of the ITAA 1997 does not adversely impact on taxpayers who have commenced to carry on activities which by their nature require a number of years to produce assessable income. The paragraph is intended to cover a business activity that has a lead time between the commencement of the activity and the production of any assessable income. Such activities have an inherent characteristic that cannot be overcome by conducting the business activity in a different way but only by changing the nature of the business. In your case, you have not provided any independent evidence to show the lead time for your business activity. However, it is accepted that the nature of your business generally does not prevent it from producing assessable in the first year it is commenced. The inability of your business activity to satisfy one of the four non-commercial loss tests was due to insufficient sales in a competitive market and was not due to lead time, as set out in paragraph 35-55(1)(b) of the ITAA 1997. Therefore, the Commissioner will not exercise the discretion in section 35-55 of the ITAA 1997 to allow you to offset the losses made from your business activity against your other assessable income for purposes of calculating your taxable income for the 2012-13 financial year.