QLS liaises with OSR

The Queensland Law Society has liaised extensively with the Office of State Revenue (OSR) to resolve concerns raised by Queensland legal practitioners. Issues that have been discussed to date are:

• OSR audit activity, including:
• a protocol to enhance the audit process;
• the period of time covered by the audit; and
• the documents required to be produced;
• the practical aspects of self-assessment of changes of trustee;
• the practical aspects of applying the aggregation rules for transactions and some guidelines for assisting practitioners;
• the objection processes, and particularly the length of time to resolve objections, expediting objections and recovery action in the meantime;
• OSR attempting to deal directly with lodgers in the case where lawyers have been engaged to act for lodgers;
• withdrawn rulings which have not yet been replaced;
• a private ruling system;
• the OSR website disclaimer;
• the stamping of caveats;
• certifications for OSR Connect;
• a help line for OSR Connect on technical legal issues (as opposed to IT issues);
• a protocol and guideline document for obtaining a commissioner’s assessment, for example where the transactions are complex or the duty result is in some doubt; and
• risk issues identified by OSR.

We encourage any practitioner who has experienced any problem with the OSR to bring these issues to our attention, so that we may raise them directly with the department. For more information, please contact Patrese McVeigh at p.mcveigh@qls.com.au.