12th February 2007Payments to NSW irrigators have not been paid because no ruling has been made on the taxation status of entitlement payments for lost groundwater.
NSW Irrigators Council chief executive, Doug Miell, said Prime Minister, John Howard, “must act immediately” and have the groundwater entitlement payments’ taxation status clarified.
Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has advised the NSW Department of Natural Resources it was unable to provide a draft ruling on the issue and cannot commit to any time for further action.
“Despite assurances from the Prime Minister that this issue would be resolved, it has dragged on for years and years and has now prevented payments to individuals whose entitlements have been cut back,” Mr Miell said.
“Irrigators in the Gwydir and Macquarie were due to receive payments on January 1 this year.
“Those payments are already in arrears and now that the ATO has stopped work there, there is no indication as to when this process can be reinstated…”
Mr Miell said the inaction on the tax ruling sent a “signal of suspicion” through the industry, that the government was not serious about resolving the issue.
“…it raises real concerns for the implementation of the Prime Minister’s $10 billion National Plan for Water SOURCE: The Land
