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Contact Simon

E: [email protected]
T: +61 3 9286 8000

Simon Aitken
Partner - Melbourne


Office : Melbourne
Service : Tax services
Sectors : Property and Construction, Mining
Biography

Simon is a Director of the Tax Services division in Melbourne and has over 20 years of corporate tax consulting experience working with a broad range of clients across a range of industries and sectors.  Simon is recognised as a tax adviser within the resources and building and construction industries, and has advised clients on a range of complex tax projects.

Simon Aitken is a Partner of RSM Australia Partner and a Director of RSM Australia Pty Ltd.

Solutions Simon provides

Simon has a broad range of tax skills and provides specialist tax advice in:

  • acquisition due diligence
  • cross border structuring
  • tax consolidation
  • research and development
  • intellectual property
  • management of tax audits and dispute resolution
  • petroleum and mining resource rent taxes

Significant projects

  • Advising AED Oil Limited on its expansion into oil and gas exploration projects in Brunei and Indonesia
  • Advising 3D Oil Limited on the sale of Bass Strait oil tenements
  • Advising Cobar Consolidation on the development of the silver mine in NSW
  • Advising Rex Minerals Limited on its demerger of White Rock Limited and the development of its large gold/copper resources in South Australia
  • Implementing automated tax compliance systems for Fulton Hogan Australia
  • Advising Keolis/Downer EDI on their joint bid to operate Melbourne’s train and tram networks

Professional associations

  • Associate, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand
  • Fellow, Taxation Institute of Australia

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Commerce (Swinburne University)
  • Masters of Taxation (Monash University)
  • Registered tax agent
Publications

Junior Minerals Exploration Incentive – Explained for 2020/21

28 May 2020
The Junior Minerals Exploration Incentive (JMEI) was introduced in 2018 to allow junior mining exploration companies (JMEC) that are undertaking greenfield exploration in Australia, to convert tax losses into exploration credits for investors. The exploration credits provide a tax offset for investors that incentivises them to contribute new capita...
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Beware of purchasing Victorian residential land in a trust

10 February 2020
The Victorian Duties Act 2000 imposes a stamp duty surcharge of 8% on the acquisition of Victorian residential property by a foreign purchaser. This surcharge brings the top stamp duty rate to 13.5%. The breadth of this surcharge and its cost mandates that it be considered in the direct purchase of Victorian land or indirect purchase ...
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Deductibility of labour costs related to the construction or creation of assets

4 December 2019
Draft Tax Ruling TR 2019/D6 explains the Commissioner’s views as to when labour costs relating to the construction or creation of an asset is deductible for tax purposes under section 8-1 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Tax Act).  Labour costs falling for deductibility under another provision of the Tax Act, including the research ...
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Land Development Agreements - The net widens

18 July 2019
The Victorian Duties Act 2000 contains provisions that can apply to Land Development Agreements that have been broadened since the recent enactment of the State Taxation Acts Amendments Act 2019 on 18 June 2019.   The former ‘economic entitlement’ provisions applied to the acquisition of a greater than 50% interest in a private landh...
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Junior Minerals Exploration Incentive - Get in quick!

15 May 2018
The Exploration Development Incentive (EDI) was replaced by the Junior Minerals Exploration Incentive (JMEI) for the 2018 to 2021 years. JMEI applications for the 2019 year must be electronically submitted between 1 June and 30 June 2018. $100m of JMEI credits will be available on a ‘first come first serve basis’ over the following annual ex...
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Budget 2016 - Corporate Tax Rates

4 May 2016
Income Year Annual Aggregated Turnover Thresholds Rate 2016/17 $10 million 27.5% 2017/18 $25 million 27.5% 2018/19 $50 million 27.5% ...
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Budget 2016 for Corporations

3 May 2016
Cuts to Company Tax Rate The company tax rate will be reduced to 25% over the next 10 years. The company tax rate will be progressively reduced to 25% between the 2016/17 and 2026/27 income years. A company tax rate of 27.5% will apply to companies with an annual aggregated turnover of less than $10 million for the 2016/17 year, increasing...
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New 10 percent withholding tax on acquisitions of direct or indirect interests in Australian Real Property

9 March 2016
From 1 July 2016, a new 10% withholding tax will apply to acquisitions of Taxable Australian Real Property (TARP) or Indirect Australian Real Property (IARP) interests. The withholding is based on 10% of the purchaser’s CGT cost base for TARP or IARP and must be paid to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) on or before the settlement date. ...
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Changes to the zone tax offset rules

7 December 2015
Updated July 2016 Changes to the zone tax offset (ZTO)provisions will restrict access to the ZTO  for fly in fly out (FIFO) workers in remote areas of Australia from 1 July 2015. The purpose of the offset is to provide an income tax concession to individual residents of the prescribed zone areas for the disadvant...
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Company taxpayers: are you ready for the public disclosure of your tax data?

4 October 2015
Since tax was first collected, a fundamental feature of tax law has been the unconditional secrecy surrounding taxpayer data. In Australia that position changed in June 2013 when Australia’s tax secrecy laws were amended, directing the ATO to publicly report certain large company tax data. Start date and implications The fir...
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Exploration development incentive - should mineral explorers opt in or out?

16 March 2015
The Exploration Development Incentive (EDI) was enacted with the passing of the Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2014 Measures No. 7) Act 2014 in March 2015. Mineral explorers will need to determine whether the exploration expenditure they have incurred since 1 July 2014 will qualify for the EDI. The EDI has been restricted to $100 million be...
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