Sales Tax Refund

This article was written by Jason Tan Jia Xin of Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill

When the goods and services tax (GST) was first introduced to replace the general sales tax and service tax regimes in 2015, the overarching concern for businesses was the implementation and administrative aspect. As companies scrambled to understand the rules and procedures in order to facilitate the rollout of GST, many, if not all, would have neglected or overlooked the fact that this transition would trigger a double collection of taxes for goods still held as stock across both tax regimes.

The general sales tax was payable upon manufacturing or importation of the goods. Consequently, all stock still held by businesses in Malaysia as of the cut-off date (1 April 2015) would have been subject to sales tax. Provided that such stock was not part of the zero-rated or exempt supplies, they would also be subject to GST. This is a classic instance of double taxation.

Unfriending = unlawful?

Authors: Stephen Booth (Principal) and Lisa Qiu (Lawyer & Registered Migration Agent) (Coleman Greig Lawyers)

Sometimes it’s difficult to ignore a friend request from a work colleague. Once you’ve accepted, should you block or unfriend? A recent decision handed down by the Fair Work Commission may cause you to rethink your next move.

In only the second official stop bullying order handed down by the Fair Work Commission since the introduction of new anti bullying laws in 2013, the Commission has held that unfriending someone on Facebook was “belittling” and “aggressive” and constituted unreasonable behaviour that warranted a stop bullying order.

Ms Roberts, the applicant, was a real estate agent and had been working with VIEW Launceston, a real estate franchise in Tasmania, for approximately two years (strangely enough, the first official stop bullying order handed down by the Commission also concerned events which took place in a real estate agency). Mrs Bird, the alleged bully, was a Sales Administrator and the wife of Mr Bird, the Principal and Co-Director of VIEW.

Ms Roberts was able to prove unreasonable conduct on the part of Mrs Bird, including Mrs Bird:

          • Belittling Ms Roberts when she told her she wasn’t allowed to sign for parcels

          • deliberating delaying the processing of administrative tasks for Ms Roberts

          • deliberately attempting to damage the relationship between Ms Roberts and a client

          • acknowledging others in the morning and delivering photocopying and printing to them, but not to Ms Roberts.