Tax Matters for the Arts Tax Matters for the Arts

Issue Highlights:
Tribute to Robert Jacks
How to avoid an ATO fine
Emily Floyd Review
The Budget and how it effects you
Tax
Tax Matters
Matters for
for the
the Arts
Arts
www.lowensteins.com.au
NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2014
Robert Jacks
1943 - 2014
The Honourable Paul M Guest OAM QC gave a eulogy for ROBERT JACKS AO at the
National Gallery of Victoria on 20 August 2014, below is an excerpt.
It is by the exemplification of Robert’s life, so well lived, and the
command of his masterly professionalism that we whose life he
has touched through his art and his wide-embracing presence,
remember Robert’s legacy with pride, deep affection and the
utmost respect.
The creative mastery, the virtuosity,
of this most remarkable man will be
memorialised in October this year when
the National Gallery of Victoria will present
a survey of Robert’s professional career
– “Order and Variation”, a fitting tribute to
an artist who has emphatically influenced,
in a kaleidoscopic variety of ways, both
contemporary art in Australia and the
separate lives of us all.
Robert’s history from the seminal, otherwise
highly controversial Field Exhibition of
hard-edged Colour-Field Paintings in
1968 and over four further decades has
been meticulously recorded in many
exhibitions, essays and books – including
the monograph by Ken McGregor.1
Robert Lindsay
described Robert’s
creative energy as “ … boundless and
restless – the approach that of a ‘universal
man’ who moves easily across all aspects
of contemporary art practice, blurring the
lines between object and image, painting
and sculpture, between fine art and craft”
and how “he remained faithful to his
commitment to abstraction and continued
to refine the elegance of his technical
virtuosity and intellectual discipline”.2
We honour his passion; his decency;
his penetrating intellect; his gentle,
sophisticated and worldly, gregarious nature;
his quiet courage; the supremacy and
analytical rigour of his art and, above
all, his unconquerable, independent and
unselfish spirit.
We remember all of this and feel the wisdom
of his consciousness, his unyielding
individuality and the conceptual process
through which he created outstanding and
memorable works of art, sculpture, prints,
etchings and artists books.
To Julienne, Ellie, Angie, Nick and the
broad family, we convey our authentic and
profound sympathy.
Robert was a traveller, for whom the world
had no boundary. His journey to New York
in 1968 was legendary and a vital source
for his early development.
Robert soared above adversity. He never
boasted of his triumphs, and they were
many, but lived his life under the banner of
honesty, propriety and dignity.
Our respective memories of Robert are
built upon the firm foundation of gratitude,
affection and unfeigned respect. His legacy
will endure and remain undiminished with
the passing of the years, for it is woven
into the very fabric of our own lives and
resonates in the great galleries of Australia
and elsewhere in the world.
1) Robert Jacks, Past Unfolded, (Fine Art Publishing,
2001).
2) Untitled, Portraits of Australian Artists, Sonia
Payes. (Macmillan Art Publishing, 2007, p 182).
Robert Jacks: Order and Variation will be on
at the National Gallery of Victoria from the 3rd
October 2014 – 15 February 2015.
www.ngv.vic.gov.au
Artwork top: Metropolis 6 1984, oil on canvas, 183.0 x 152.0 cm, Estate of the artist, Victoria © Robert Jacks
Portrait above: Robert Jacks, 2009, Image courtesy of National Gallery of Victoria
LOWENSTEINS ARTS MANAGEMENT NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2014 :1
Avoid a tax office fine by lodging returns on time
With the Australian Tax Office
having increased penalties
for late tax returns, it’s a
timely reminder to ensure
you have your tax affairs in
order in readiness for an early
lodgement.
The ATO has introduced new, much higher
‘Failure to Lodge’ (FTL) penalty amounts.
The government has revised penalties
from the basic penalty of $110 up to $850.
Perhaps it’s also worth noting that a
FTL is NOT tax deductible and once the
Australian Tax Office has imposed a FTL
penalty upon you, it will attract interest
until it is paid.
So the sensible course of action would
be to avoid being hit with a FTL in the
first instance as that will take care of the
accumulating interest!
The due dates are as follows:
For income tax returns where the prior
years return has been lodged using the
services of a tax agent
15th May each year
but in some cases where the amount
of prior year tax is above a certain
threshold , the date may be earlier , we will
contact those clients who have an earlier
lodgement date.
The quarterly BAS statements
Quarter
Self
Lodging
Lodge
with Tax
Agents
SEP 28 Oct
25 Nov
DEC
28 Feb
28 Feb
MAR
28 Apr
26 May
JUN
28 Jul
25 Aug
These dates cover the majority of our
clients, but in certain circumstances these
dates may be different for certain classes
of tax payer. We will be in contact as these
dates approach.
The ATO is obliged to issue a Failure to
Lodge penalty if you are late lodging an
‘approved form’ by the due date. Approved
Forms include a Business or Instalment
Activity Statement (BAS, IAS), an income
tax return, a fringe benefits tax return, a
pay as you go (PAYG) withholding annual
report, an annual goods and service tax
(GST) return or an annual GST Information
Report.
While there are some exceptions and
conditions, in general a FTL can be
avoided if forms are lodged on time or the
ATO is contacted ahead of the due date.
If there are extenuating circumstances as
to why you can’t lodge your tax return or
‘Approved Forms’ by the due date, the
ATO may make an allowance but will need
to be notified ahead of the due date.
If you are unable to lodge a document by
the due date, you should contact us to see
if an alternative date can be agreed to with
the Australian Tax Office.
Also be warned that the Tax Office can hit
you with a penalty of 25% of the shortfall
amount for Not Taking Reasonable Care.
Generally this occurs when the Tax
Office deems that you did not do what a
reasonable person would have done.
In justifying its penalties and fines, the ATO
argues that it is “to encourage taxpayers
to take reasonable care in complying with
their tax obligations.”
Now that’s a positive way of looking at it!
Accounting for Taste Sydney book launch
On 2nd March 2014 Lowensteins Arts
Management celebrated the launch of their
book documenting the Lowensteins Arts
Collection.
“Accounting For Taste” has been written by Professor
Sasha Grishin.
In Sydney the book was launched by John Olsen, and
Edmund Capon at the Olsen Irwin Gallery.
In attendance were artists Charles Blackman, Ken
Unsworth, John Beard, Hilarie Mais, Kerrie Lester
and photographer Gary Heary.
Accounting for Taste can be purchased
online for $88 at www.lowensteins.com.au.
Prof. Sasha Grishin, John Olsen
& Tom Lowenstein
Charles Blackman
& Tim Olsen
John Olsen
John Olsen & Edmund Capon
LOWENSTEINS ARTS MANAGEMENT NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2014 :2
Emily Floyd
Steiner Rainbow by Emily Floyd, 2006, MDF, two-part epoxy paint dimensions variable (approx. 181 x 361 x 180 cm)
Courtesy of the artist and Anna Schwartz Gallery Sydney and Melbourne
To say life has been busy
for Melbourne artist, Emily
Floyd, in recent months is an
understatement.
The 42-year-old contemporary artist is
starting to lose her voice just hours after
arriving in Brisbane to deliver a speech at
the opening of the ‘Harvest’ exhibition at
the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art until
21st September 2014.
The exhibition is a celebration of food in
art and Floyd is full for praise for the 150
works on show.
After the formalities are over, Floyd is back
on a plane to Sydney where she is working
on a public commission for Martin Place.
And there’s likely to be little rest for the
respected artist who, in March, opened a
survey of her works at Heide Museum of
Modern Art in Melbourne.
Focusing on key works from the past
decade of Floyd’s output, the exhibition
includes eleven new works devised
specifically for Heide’s galleries and
grounds.
Floyd has titled the show ‘Far Rainbow’ a
take from the 1963 Soviet science-fiction
story set on the imaginary planet, Rainbow,
a utopian location inhabited by artists and
scientists, which is facing destruction.
Far Rainbow presumably offers a parallel
to our own planet under threat and Floyd’s
sculptures, with their simple geometrics
and bright colors, inspire a connection
between art, learning and play.
Art and play is also the centerpiece
of Floyd’s ‘Abstract Labour’ - a new
permanent addition to the sculpture park
at Heide. The 14 painted letter-shapes
have been designed to house books and
blocks for children to play with and reflect
Floyd’s interest in alternative educational
mechanisms for learning.
Floyd describes the Heide exhibition as
“a tiny world within a world offering an
exploration of ideas”.
While the artist is no stranger to executing
big projects, notably Melbourne’s Eastlink
Motorway, the Docklands and the Rialto
Tower Development, Floyd is excited by
her forthcoming exhibition at the National
Gallery of Victoria.
To be opened in late November, Floyd
says she’s “thrilled to be working with the
NGV”.
“The Dawn” is an exhibition of Floyd’s
keynote works from 2001 to 2014, including
major installations.
Floyd’s work in sculpture, installation
and printmaking is well known and
she is perhaps identified by her text-based
sculptures.
Floyd describes the upcoming project
a “library of manifestos based in a
public sculpture” that will be “interactive
and tactile”.
She says the exhibition will take her work
“in a new direction”.
“I like the NGV’s approach to modernism
and this will be a thoughtful exploration”,
she says, an “encounter with a audience
on a big scale”.
Perhaps giving a hint of what’s to come,
Floyd says visitors to the NGV will be able
to “explore, sit within, read and occupy this
space in a different way”.
“I used to wag school to go to the NGV, so
I’m really thrilled to be invited to participate
in an exhibition of this magnitude”, Floyd
says.
Of her new commission for the NGV foyer,
Floyd says “it’s a distinct sense of scale,
large scale major new works.”
Floyd says the NGV project is
the culmination of many years of
dedicated work.
“I’ve been working so hard over 15 years
and this will close off a cycle in my career
and I can look to a new direction - small
things,” she jokes.
*Emily Floyd is represented by Anna
Schwartz Gallery in Melbourne and
Sydney.
LOWENSTEINS ARTS MANAGEMENT NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2014 :3
Anzac Centenary Arts and Culture Fund
Minister for the Arts, Senator
the Hon. George Brandis QC,
and Minister Assisting the Prime
Minister for the Centenary
of Anzac, Senator the Hon.
Michael Ronaldson, today
announced the appointment of
Sir Jonathan Mills AO FRSE
as the Creative Advisor for
the Anzac Centenary Arts and
Culture Fund and welcomed the
eminent Australians that form
the Fund’s Advisory Panel.
“Sir Jonathan Mills will shape Australia’s
extensive arts and culture program
as part of the Centenary of Anzac
commemorations,” Senator Brandis said.
“The art projects considered by Sir
Jonathan and the Advisory Panel and
supported through this new Fund will tell
the story of the Anzacs and how their
sacrifice shaped our nation.
At home and abroad, Sir Jonathan’s
experience as an artistic director and
musician will ensure the arts and cultural
component of the Anzac Centenary
commemorations will pay respectful tribute
to this important chapter in Australian
military history.”
Sir Jonathan Mills’ previous positions
include Artistic Director of the Melbourne
International Arts Festival, the Melbourne
Federation Festival, the Melbourne
Millennium Eve celebrations and the
Brisbane Biennial International Music
Festival. In 2006, Sir Jonathan was
the Artistic Director of the Edinburgh
International Festival. He graduated in
music from the University of Sydney where
he specialised in composition with Peter
Sculthorpe and his composition Sandakan
Threnody won the Prix Italia in 2005.
Senator Ronaldson said that the Anzac
Centenary Program will mark a Century of
Service, encompassing all wars, conflicts
and peacekeeping operations in which
Australians have been involved.
“The Centenary of Anzac will be the most
significant period of commemoration in
our nation’s history and the Government
is committed to providing opportunities
for all Australians to participate, including
through the Anzac Centenary Arts and
Culture Fund.”
The Anzac Centenary Arts and Culture
Fund Advisory Panel members are:
Wesley Enoch, Artistic Director,
Queensland Theatre Company
Nicholas Heyward, CEO,
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
The Hon. Rod Kemp, former
Minister for the Arts
The Hon. Brendan Nelson,
Director, Australian War Memorial
Josephine Ridge, Creative Director,
Melbourne Festival
Margaret Seares, Chair, Perth
International Arts Festival
Ben Quilty, artist
Tony Walker, International Editor,
Australian Financial Review.
The Anzac Centenary Arts and Culture Fund
features a Production and Commissioning
Fund led by Sir Jonathan and a $2 million
Public Grants program managed by the
Ministry for the Arts. The Public Grants
program, which will launch later this year,
will be open to arts organisations, groups,
individuals and cultural institutions.
The Anzac Centenary commemorations
will take place between 2014 and 2018,
marking 100 years since Australia’s
involvement in the First World War.
For more information about the Anzac
Centenary Arts and Culture Fund visit
www.arts.gov.au.
Books in the Woods, by Tim Jones, 2005, etching, edition 12/35, 27.0 x 35.0 cm
LOWENSTEINS ARTS MANAGEMENT NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2014 :4
Budget Bits
If you haven’t had the
opportunity to get your head
around all things Budget, allow
us to give you an overview
cent from 1 July 2021 and by 0.5 per cent
per year from 1 July 2022 until it reaches
12 per cent for the year beginning 1 July
2025.
There are a number of changes that you
should be aware of:
The Government will freeze eligibility
thresholds for the Australian Government
payments for three years. Eligibility
thresholds for non-pension payments
will be maintained for 3 years from 1
July 2014. Major non-pension payments
include Family Tax Benefit, Child Care
Benefit, Child Care Rebate, Newstart
Allowance, Parenting Payments and Youth
Allowance.
Eligibility thresholds for pension and
pension related payments will be
maintained for 3 years from 1 July 2017.
Major pension related payments include
the Aged Pension, Carer Payment,
Disability Support Pension and the
Veterans’ Service Pension.
Budget Deficit Levy:
As foreshadowed before the Budget, the
Government announced the introduction
of a Budget deficit levy (tax), to apply
for 3 years commencing on 1 July 2014.
Formally known as the Temporary Budget
Repair Levy, it will apply at 2% for incomes
over $180,000.
The formula is simple enough - individuals
with taxable income of $200,000 will pay
2% of $20,000 ie a levy of $400 while
those with a taxable income of $300,000
will pay 2% of $120,000 ie $2,400 in tax.
Medicare Levy:
The Medicare levy increased to 2% from
1.5% on 1 July 2014. This was announced
in last year’s budget and has been
legislated. The intention of the increase
is to help fund the proposed National
Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), now
renamed Disability Care Australia.
Mining Tax
measures:
and
associated
The Minerals Resource Rent Tax Repeal
and Other Measures Bill 2014 has been
passed by Federal Parliament with
government amendments and awaits
Royal Assent
The amendments confirm the following:
Income support bonus will continue until
31 December 2016.
The current Schoolkids Bonus will
continue until 31 December 2016, but a
means test will be applied, so that only
families on incomes of up to $100,000
per annum would qualify.
The low income super contribution in
its existing form will apply until 30 June
2017.
The abolition of the associated measures
such as loss-carry back will proceed.
The reduction of the instant asset
write-off threshold for small businesses
(from $6,500 to $1,000), and the
discontinuation of the accelerated
depreciation arrangements for motor
vehicles, will also go ahead.
Super Guarantee:
The compulsory superannuation rate will
rise from its current 9.5 per cent to 10 per
Eligibility Thresholds:
Newstart Allowance:
The Government will increase the age
of eligibility for Newstart Allowance and
Sickness Allowance from 22 to 24 years
of age, from 1 January 2015. Current
recipients of Newstart Allowance and
Sickness Allowance, aged 22 to 24 years
of age on 31 December 2014, will remain
on those allowances.
HECS and HELP measures:
The Government will reduce the income
threshold for repayment of Higher
Education Loan Programme (HELP) debts
commencing in 2016-17 and will adjust
the indexation of HELP debts from 1 June
2016.
The new minimum threshold will be
established for the repayment of HELP
debts, set at 90% of the minimum threshold
that would otherwise have applied in 201617.
The new minimum threshold is currently
estimated to be $50,638 in 2016-17.
Further, a new repayment rate of 2%
of repayment income will be applied to
debtors with incomes above the new
minimum threshold.
In addition, the annual indexation applied
to HELP debts will be adjusted from the
Consumer Price Index to a rate equivalent
to the yields on 10 year bonds issued by
the Australian Government, capped at 6%
pa, from 1 June 2016. The Government will also continue to
make available HELP loans so that eligible
students do not have to pay their fees up-
front. However, the HECS-HELP benefit,
which was intended to provide an incentive
for graduates of particular courses to take
up related occupations or work in specified
locations will end from 2015-16.
The Government will also remove the 25%
loan fee applied to FEE-HELP loans for
fee-paying undergraduate courses and the
20% loan fee applied to VET FEE-HELP
loans for eligible full fee-paying students
in higher level vocational education and
training courses.
Incentives for hiring over 50’s:
Employers can now receive up to $10,000
in Government assistance if they hire
a job-seeker aged 50 or older under its
new “Restart” program. The program will
replace the Seniors Employment Incentive
Payment.
Under the program, eligible employers
will receive $3,000 if they hire a full-time
mature-age job seeker who was previously
unemployed for a period of 6 months and
employ that person for at least 6 months.
Once that jobseeker has been working
for the same employer for 12 months, the
employer will receive another payment of
$3,000.
A further $2,000 will be paid to the
employer once the same job seeker has
been with them for 18 months, and $2000
again at 24 months.
To be eligible for the assistance, employers
will need to demonstrate that the job they
are offering is “sustainable and ongoing.”
LOWENSTEINS ARTS MANAGEMENT NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2014 :5
Lowensteins Arts Management Pty Ltd
Hong Kong Art Fair
by Evan Lowenstein
This was the third time that I had
visited Hong Kong Art Fair and
was a wonderful experience for
me.
In 2014 the Hong Kong Art Fair was the
second fair rebadged as Art Basel HK.
Again the organisers put on an amazing
spectacle the sheer size and breadth of
exhibiting galleries was extraordinary.
Art Basel HK took place over four days from
May 15-18 and was held in the excellent HK
Convention Centre on Hong Kong Island.
Artworks from around the world were on
display on two equally gigantic floors of the
Convention Centre, with each level holding
around 150 stands respectively.
In addition to the privately run stands, as in
past years the organisers arranged specially
commissioned works by many well known
Chinese artists of the calibre of Gu Wenda,
Shen Shoamin and Lee Wen.
In years gone by the main galleries were
dominated by the juggernauts of the world
art scene, mainly out of London, New York
and China; this year was no different with
galleries from as far afield as Portugal, New
Zealand, Greece, Spain and Ireland.
The highlight for Australian visitors was to
witness SO many Australian galleries doing
well. In all, 12 Australian galleries were
showcasing their works.
Galleries included, Anna Schwartz, Roslyn
Oxley9, Tolarno, Dianne Tanzer/ Gorie,
Sullivan + Strumpf and some new galleries,
which is always good to see, Utopian
Slumps and Jan Murphy.
The 29,000 visitors who attended Art
Basel HK were made up of collectors, art
representatives, artists or the general art
junkies, as I would characterise myself.
The quality of the work on the whole was
impressive, showcasing a wide range
of European, British, American and, of
course, Asian artists. Predictably, the big
name galleries of the likes of Gagosian,
Acquavella, Ben Brown, Leo Castelli, Cheim
and Read, Hauser & Wirth were showing all
their big name artists like Murakami, Damien
Hirst, Joan Mitchell, Warhol and William
Kentridge.
These were also amazing contemporary
works from Asian art galleries in Shanghai
and Beijing and wonderful pieces from
Indonesia and Mongolia - a world of art
quite unfamiliar to my western eyes.
Works on show at the Art Basel HK ranged
in price from HK $1000 to HK$10,000, with a
special curated ‘Under $10,000 Wall’.
No doubt I will be heading off again to Art
Basel HK for the fourth time in 2016 because
this art junkie just can’t get enough!
Congratulations
Congratulations to Fiona Lowry
winner of the Archibald for her
portrait of renowned architect,
Penelope Seidler.
It was Lowry’s intention to paint Penelope
Seidler in a familiar environment, so she went
to the architect’s home, which she designed
with her late husband, Harry Seidler, in the
1960’s.
Lowry, a Sydney-based artist, captured her
muse in the garden of her home, made the
obligatory sketches and then returned to her
studio to paint Seidler in her absence. It took
her about a month to complete the work.
As Lowry explained, “I first saw Penelope
about six years ago at a gallery opening in
Alexandria and I was really struck by her
beauty and presence. I asked a friend who she
was and decided then that I wanted to paint
her.”
For Seidler it was the first time she has sat
for an Archibald Prize portrait and from all
accounts is happy with the result.
Certified Practising Accountants
ABN: 63 095 459 439
ACN: 095 459 439
Melbourne
Level 5 / 574 St Kilda Road
Melbourne VIC 3004
PO Box 6853
St Kilda Rd Central VIC 8008
T + 613 9529 3800
F + 613 9525 1616
E receptionmelb@lowensteins.com.au
Tom Lowenstein Partner
Evan Lowenstein Partner
Adam Micmacher Partner
Sydney
Suite 601 / 3 Waverley Street
Bondi Junction NSW 2022
PO Box 651
Bondi Junction NSW 1355
T + 612 9389 2400
F + 612 9389 6506
E receptionsyd@lowensteins.com
Tom Lowenstein Partner
Adam Micmacher Partner
Michael Zillig Partner
Terms of engagement for professional
service
In accordance CPA Australia’s “Terms
of Engagement”, as accountants we are
required to document and communicate the
terms of our engagement with our client.
Commencing October 1st, 2014 when we
send you out your papers for signature, we
will be including an engagement letter for you
to sign and return. For more information go to
our web site, www.lowensteins.com.au.
Important
Penelope Seidler by Fiona Lowry
She was present with Lowry when the
announcement was made and the two
women were photographed in front of the
portrait.
In our next issue we will feature an
interview with the artist
Tim Storrier’s portrait of Barry Humphries
character, Sir Les Patterson, won the
Packing Room prize. The Wynne Prize
was awarded to Michael Johnson for best
landscape. The Sulman Prize went to
Andrew Sullivan.
Readers should not act solely on the basis
of the material contained in this newsletter.
Items herein are general comments only and
do not constitute or convey advice. Changes
in legislation may occur quickly. We therefore
recommend that formal advice be sought from
one of our offices before acting in any of the
areas covered in this newsletter.
Tell us your news
Please send us your news of upcoming
exhibitions, workshops & opportunities.
Space permitting we will publish your news in
our next edition.
Next Edition Deadline : 15 October for
December 2014 issue
newsletter@lowensteins.com.au
Copyright © LAM & the artists & authors 2014
Newsletter design by Web Prophets Pty Ltd
LOWENSTEINS ARTS MANAGEMENT NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2014 :6