Product Ruling PR 2023/8
Date of effect: 1 July 2023

What this ruling is about: 1. This Ruling sets out the Commissioner's opinion on the way in which the relevant provisions identified in the Ruling section apply to the defined class of entities that participates in the scheme to which this Ruling relates. All legislative references in this Ruling are to the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936, unless otherwise indicated. 2. The scheme described in this Ruling involves a prepayment by a Customer (as defined in paragraph 14 of this Ruling) under a Rural Products Prepayment Program (the Program) offered by Elders Rural Services Australia Limited (Elders) to purchase rural products and services to be used by the Customer in their business. [1] 3. This Ruling does not address: Who this Ruling applies to 4. This part of the Ruling specifies which entities can rely on the Ruling section of this Ruling and which entities cannot rely on the Ruling section. Those entities that can rely on the Ruling section are referred to in this Ruling as a Customer. 5. The class of entities that can rely on the Ruling section of this Product Ruling consists of those entities that: 6. The class of entities that can rely on the Ruling section of this Product Ruling does not include entities that: Requirements of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 7. This Ruling does not address the provisions of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SISA). The Commissioner gives no assurance that the scheme is an appropriate investment for a superannuation fund. The trustees of superannuation funds are advised that no consideration has been given in this Ruling as to whether investment in this scheme may contravene the provisions of the SISA. 8. This Ruling applies from 1 July 2023. It therefore applies only to the specified class of entities that enter into the scheme from 1 July 2023 until 30 June 2026, being its period of application. This Ruling will continue to apply to those entities even after its period of application has ended for the scheme entered into during the period of application. 9. However, the Ruling only applies to the extent that there is no change in the scheme or in the entity's involvement in the scheme. 10. Subject to paragraph 3 of this Ruling and the assumptions in paragraph 16 of this Ruling: 11. The scheme is identified and described in the following: Note: Certain information has been provided on a commercial-in-confidence basis and will not be disclosed or released under Freedom of Information legislation. 12. For the purposes of describing the scheme to which this Ruling applies, there are no other agreements, whether formal or informal, and whether or not legally enforceable, which a Customer or any associate of a Customer will be a party to, which are a part of the scheme. 13. Customers may rely on this Ruling's contents, provided the scheme is carried out in accordance with the description in paragraphs 11 to 16 of this Ruling. If the scheme carried out is materially different from the scheme as described, this Ruling cannot be relied upon and may be withdrawn or modified. Overview 14. The Program constitutes an agreement between a customer of Elders (the Customer) and Elders. The Program is, among other things, designed to assist in providing the Customer more effective cash-flow management, enabling them to time the payment for rural products and services with their major agricultural sale periods. 15. Pursuant to the Terms of the Program: Assumptions 16. This Ruling is made on the basis of the following necessary assumptions: Commissioner of Taxation 14 June 2023 Section 8-1 of the ITAA 1997 - deductibility of the Prepayment 17. A loss or outgoing is deductible under section 8-1 of the ITAA 1997 if it is necessarily incurred in carrying on a business for the purpose of gaining or producing a taxpayer's assessable income. The expenditure must be part of the cost of trading operations and must not be of a capital, private or domestic nature. 18. An outgoing incurred by a business will be 'necessarily incurred' where, in the circumstances, it is reasonably capable of being seen as desirable or appropriate from the point of view of the pursuit of the business ends of the business being carried on for the purpose of earning assessable income (see Magna Alloys & Research Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Taxation of the Commonwealth of Australia [1980] FCA 180). 19. Upon entry into the Program, the Prepayment is both immediately due and non-refundable such that the Customer becomes definitively committed to, and incurs, the Prepayment. As the Prepayment is incurred for the purchase of rural products and services to be used in the Customer's farming business, it constitutes expenditure which is clearly appropriate from the point of view of the pursuit of the business ends of the Customer's business and is therefore 'necessarily incurred' in the carrying on of that business. 20. The Prepayment necessarily incurred by the Customer to purchase rural products and services in the course of carrying on its business is not of a capital, private or domestic nature. The deduction for the Prepayment is allowable under section 8-1 of the ITAA 1997 in the income year the payment is made to Elders (that is, at the time it is necessarily incurred). Section 82KZM - prepaid expenditure incurred by certain small business entities and individuals incurring non-business expenditure 21. Subject to paragraph 22 of this Ruling, section 82KZM operates to spread over more than one income year a deduction which, apart from that section, would be allowable under section 8-1 of the ITAA 1997 for the year of income in which the prepaid expenditure (other than excluded expenditure as defined in subsection 82KZL(1)) is incurred under an agreement by a taxpayer that is either: 22. Section 82KZM applies if the eligible service period for the expenditure is longer than 12 months, or the eligible service period for the expenditure is 12 months or shorter but ends after the last day of the year of income after the one in which the expenditure was incurred. 23. In relation to the Prepayment incurred by a Customer under the Program, the eligible service period for the purpose of section 82KZM is the period to which the Prepayment relates. That period is: 24. The eligible service period in relation to the deductible Prepayment under the Program is 12 months or less. As it is not more than 12 months and does not end after the last day of the year of income after the one in which the expenditure was incurred, section 82KZM will have no application to Customers that (as assumed at paragraph 16 of this Ruling) are a small business entity (or an entity covered by subsection 82KZM(1A)) for the year of income and have not chosen to apply section 82KZMD to the expenditure. © AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE FOR THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA You are free to copy, adapt, modify, transmit and distribute this material as you wish (but not in any way that suggests the ATO or the Commonwealth endorses you or any of your services or products).

Class of entities or scheme: 11. The scheme is identified and described in the following: Note: Certain information has been provided on a commercial-in-confidence basis and will not be disclosed or released under Freedom of Information legislation. 12. For the purposes of describing the scheme to which this Ruling applies, there are no other agreements, whether formal or informal, and whether or not legally enforceable, which a Customer or any associate of a Customer will be a party to, which are a part of the scheme. 13. Customers may rely on this Ruling's contents, provided the scheme is carried out in accordance with the description in paragraphs 11 to 16 of this Ruling. If the scheme carried out is materially different from the scheme as described, this Ruling cannot be relied upon and may be withdrawn or modified. | Overview: 14. The Program constitutes an agreement between a customer of Elders (the Customer) and Elders. The Program is, among other things, designed to assist in providing the Customer more effective cash-flow management, enabling them to time the payment for rural products and services with their major agricultural sale periods. 15. Pursuant to the Terms of the Program: | Assumptions: 16. This Ruling is made on the basis of the following necessary assumptions: Commissioner of Taxation 14 June 2023

Ruling: 1. This Ruling sets out the Commissioner's opinion on the way in which the relevant provisions identified in the Ruling section apply to the defined class of entities that participates in the scheme to which this Ruling relates. All legislative references in this Ruling are to the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936, unless otherwise indicated. 2. The scheme described in this Ruling involves a prepayment by a Customer (as defined in paragraph 14 of this Ruling) under a Rural Products Prepayment Program (the Program) offered by Elders Rural Services Australia Limited (Elders) to purchase rural products and services to be used by the Customer in their business. [1] 3. This Ruling does not address: | Who this Ruling applies to: 4. This part of the Ruling specifies which entities can rely on the Ruling section of this Ruling and which entities cannot rely on the Ruling section. Those entities that can rely on the Ruling section are referred to in this Ruling as a Customer. 5. The class of entities that can rely on the Ruling section of this Product Ruling consists of those entities that: 6. The class of entities that can rely on the Ruling section of this Product Ruling does not include entities that: Requirements of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 7. This Ruling does not address the provisions of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SISA). The Commissioner gives no assurance that the scheme is an appropriate investment for a superannuation fund. The trustees of superannuation funds are advised that no consideration has been given in this Ruling as to whether investment in this scheme may contravene the provisions of the SISA. 8. This Ruling applies from 1 July 2023. It therefore applies only to the specified class of entities that enter into the scheme from 1 July 2023 until 30 June 2026, being its period of application. This Ruling will continue to apply to those entities even after its period of application has ended for the scheme entered into during the period of application. 9. However, the Ruling only applies to the extent that there is no change in the scheme or in the entity's involvement in the scheme. 10. Subject to paragraph 3 of this Ruling and the assumptions in paragraph 16 of this Ruling: 11. The scheme is identified and described in the following: Note: Certain information has been provided on a commercial-in-confidence basis and will not be disclosed or released under Freedom of Information legislation. 12. For the purposes of describing the scheme to which this Ruling applies, there are no other agreements, whether formal or informal, and whether or not legally enforceable, which a Customer or any associate of a Customer will be a party to, which are a part of the scheme. 13. Customers may rely on this Ruling's contents, provided the scheme is carried out in accordance with the description in paragraphs 11 to 16 of this Ruling. If the scheme carried out is materially different from the scheme as described, this Ruling cannot be relied upon and may be withdrawn or modified. | Overview: 14. The Program constitutes an agreement between a customer of Elders (the Customer) and Elders. The Program is, among other things, designed to assist in providing the Customer more effective cash-flow management, enabling them to time the payment for rural products and services with their major agricultural sale periods. 15. Pursuant to the Terms of the Program: | Assumptions: 16. This Ruling is made on the basis of the following necessary assumptions: Commissioner of Taxation 14 June 2023 | Section 8-1 of the ITAA 1997 - deductibility of the Prepayment: 17. A loss or outgoing is deductible under section 8-1 of the ITAA 1997 if it is necessarily incurred in carrying on a business for the purpose of gaining or producing a taxpayer's assessable income. The expenditure must be part of the cost of trading operations and must not be of a capital, private or domestic nature. 18. An outgoing incurred by a business will be 'necessarily incurred' where, in the circumstances, it is reasonably capable of being seen as desirable or appropriate from the point of view of the pursuit of the business ends of the business being carried on for the purpose of earning assessable income (see Magna Alloys & Research Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Taxation of the Commonwealth of Australia [1980] FCA 180). 19. Upon entry into the Program, the Prepayment is both immediately due and non-refundable such that the Customer becomes definitively committed to, and incurs, the Prepayment. As the Prepayment is incurred for the purchase of rural products and services to be used in the Customer's farming business, it constitutes expenditure which is clearly appropriate from the point of view of the pursuit of the business ends of the Customer's business and is therefore 'necessarily incurred' in the carrying on of that business. 20. The Prepayment necessarily incurred by the Customer to purchase rural products and services in the course of carrying on its business is not of a capital, private or domestic nature. The deduction for the Prepayment is allowable under section 8-1 of the ITAA 1997 in the income year the payment is made to Elders (that is, at the time it is necessarily incurred). | Section 82KZM - prepaid expenditure incurred by certain small business entities and individuals incurring non-business expenditure: 21. Subject to paragraph 22 of this Ruling, section 82KZM operates to spread over more than one income year a deduction which, apart from that section, would be allowable under section 8-1 of the ITAA 1997 for the year of income in which the prepaid expenditure (other than excluded expenditure as defined in subsection 82KZL(1)) is incurred under an agreement by a taxpayer that is either: 22. Section 82KZM applies if the eligible service period for the expenditure is longer than 12 months, or the eligible service period for the expenditure is 12 months or shorter but ends after the last day of the year of income after the one in which the expenditure was incurred. 23. In relation to the Prepayment incurred by a Customer under the Program, the eligible service period for the purpose of section 82KZM is the period to which the Prepayment relates. That period is: 24. The eligible service period in relation to the deductible Prepayment under the Program is 12 months or less. As it is not more than 12 months and does not end after the last day of the year of income after the one in which the expenditure was incurred, section 82KZM will have no application to Customers that (as assumed at paragraph 16 of this Ruling) are a small business entity (or an entity covered by subsection 82KZM(1A)) for the year of income and have not chosen to apply section 82KZMD to the expenditure. © AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE FOR THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA You are free to copy, adapt, modify, transmit and distribute this material as you wish (but not in any way that suggests the ATO or the Commonwealth endorses you or any of your services or products).


Appendix: Section 8-1 of the ITAA 1997 - deductibility of the Prepayment: 17. A loss or outgoing is deductible under section 8-1 of the ITAA 1997 if it is necessarily incurred in carrying on a business for the purpose of gaining or producing a taxpayer's assessable income. The expenditure must be part of the cost of trading operations and must not be of a capital, private or domestic nature. 18. An outgoing incurred by a business will be 'necessarily incurred' where, in the circumstances, it is reasonably capable of being seen as desirable or appropriate from the point of view of the pursuit of the business ends of the business being carried on for the purpose of earning assessable income (see Magna Alloys & Research Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Taxation of the Commonwealth of Australia [1980] FCA 180). 19. Upon entry into the Program, the Prepayment is both immediately due and non-refundable such that the Customer becomes definitively committed to, and incurs, the Prepayment. As the Prepayment is incurred for the purchase of rural products and services to be used in the Customer's farming business, it constitutes expenditure which is clearly appropriate from the point of view of the pursuit of the business ends of the Customer's business and is therefore 'necessarily incurred' in the carrying on of that business. 20. The Prepayment necessarily incurred by the Customer to purchase rural products and services in the course of carrying on its business is not of a capital, private or domestic nature. The deduction for the Prepayment is allowable under section 8-1 of the ITAA 1997 in the income year the payment is made to Elders (that is, at the time it is necessarily incurred). | Section 82KZM - prepaid expenditure incurred by certain small business entities and individuals incurring non-business expenditure: 21. Subject to paragraph 22 of this Ruling, section 82KZM operates to spread over more than one income year a deduction which, apart from that section, would be allowable under section 8-1 of the ITAA 1997 for the year of income in which the prepaid expenditure (other than excluded expenditure as defined in subsection 82KZL(1)) is incurred under an agreement by a taxpayer that is either: 22. Section 82KZM applies if the eligible service period for the expenditure is longer than 12 months, or the eligible service period for the expenditure is 12 months or shorter but ends after the last day of the year of income after the one in which the expenditure was incurred. 23. In relation to the Prepayment incurred by a Customer under the Program, the eligible service period for the purpose of section 82KZM is the period to which the Prepayment relates. That period is: 24. The eligible service period in relation to the deductible Prepayment under the Program is 12 months or less. As it is not more than 12 months and does not end after the last day of the year of income after the one in which the expenditure was incurred, section 82KZM will have no application to Customers that (as assumed at paragraph 16 of this Ruling) are a small business entity (or an entity covered by subsection 82KZM(1A)) for the year of income and have not chosen to apply section 82KZMD to the expenditure. © AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE FOR THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA You are free to copy, adapt, modify, transmit and distribute this material as you wish (but not in any way that suggests the ATO or the Commonwealth endorses you or any of your services or products).


What this Ruling is about | If this Ruling applies to you, and you correctly rely on it, we will apply the law to you in the way set out in this Ruling. That is, you will not pay any more tax or penalties or interest in respect of the matters covered by this Ruling. | This Ruling has been given on the basis that the entity who applied for the Ruling, and their associates, will abide by strict terms of use. Any failure to comply with the terms of use may lead to the withdrawal of this Ruling. | This Ruling provides certainty for potential participants by confirming that the tax benefits set out in the Ruling part of this document are available, provided that the scheme is carried out in accordance with the information we have been given and have described in the Scheme part of this document. If the scheme is not carried out as described, participants lose the protection of this Ruling. | Potential participants must form their own view about the commercial and financial viability of the product. The Commissioner recommends a financial (or other) adviser be consulted for such information.


Legislative references: ITAA 1936 Pt III Div 3 Subdiv H ITAA 1936 82KZL(1) ITAA 1936 82KZM ITAA 1936 82KZM(1A) ITAA 1936 82KZMD ITAA 1936 Pt IVA ITAA 1997 8-1 ITAA 1997 Div 230 ITAA 1997 328-110 Corporations Act 2001 95A SISA 1993
Case references: Magna Alloys & Research Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Taxation of the Commonwealth of Australia [1980] FCA 180 80 ATC 4542 11 ATR 276 49 FLR 183 33 ALR 213