Classic Texts in Australian and International Taxation Law

These digital editions moved from the University of Sydney Library’s SETIS website in 2022.

Income Taxation in Australia

Income Taxation in Australia: Principles of Income, Deductability and Tax Accounting

Asprey Report

Taxation Review Committee, Full Report, 31 January 1975

Report via Trove

Introduction by Richard Vann

Parson's text, Income Taxation in Australia: Principles of Income, Deductibility and Tax Accounting was published by the Law Book Company in 1985. It represented the culmination of over 25 years research and writing in the tax field. Copies of the text are now kept under lock and key by many owners for fear that they will disappear. It was the first text to be digitized in the current series and has been widely used by students, scholars, practitioners and tax officials since its appearance in 2001

Ross Parsons was also a key member of the Taxation Review Committee which produced its Final Report in 1975 (commonly known as the Asprey Report after the chair of the Committee). Parsons was the prime author of several chapters in this report which is widely regarded as the origin of much of the tax reform that has occurred in Australia over the last 25 years. For example, it recommended the implementation of a capital gains tax, imputation, and a GST. This text is difficult to obtain and the binding of most copies is disintegrating. Hence it has been digitized so that it can also be accessed online.

Further as part of an international cooperative project the Ross Parson's Centre is digitising the League of Nations publications on tax treaties which are the origin of Australia's modern treaty network.

Thanks are due to the following people: Creagh Cole of the University of Sydney Library for organising the preparation of the electronic texts; Margaret McAleese, Law Librarian for her help in bringing the project to fruition; Bridget Nguyen-Ngoc, Greg Sherington and Dat Nguyen of the Law School for doing the legwork to get the site up and running.

Copyright permissions to reproduce the works on the site have been provided Marion Parsons and the Law Book Company (now part of the Thomson Reuters Group) for the Parsons text and by the Commonwealth of Australia for the Asprey Report.

The Australian Research Council has provided funding through a Research Infrastructure Equipment and Facilities Grant for the development of this site.

Richard Vann, Challis Professor of Law, University of Sydney

International Tax Conventions

The League of Nations publications on tax treaties which are the origin of Australia's modern treaty network are now housed at the Histories of Tax Treaties website, a joint project of the OECD, Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law Vienna (WU), IBFD, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, IFA Canadian Branch, Canadian Tax Foundation and University of Sydney, Sydney Law School.

The links below go to the full searchable text of the document, but you can also access PDF versions from the Contents list.

Some documents are not yet loaded to the Tax Treaties website; links have been created to alternative authoritative sources.

Author League of Nations: Technical Experts to the Economic and Financial Committee
Title Double Taxation and Tax Evasion — Report and Resolutions submitted by the Technical Experts to the Financial Committee — Document F.212 (Geneva, February 1925) — Legislative History of United States Tax Conventions
Date 1925
Author League of Nations: Committee of Technical Experts on Double Taxation and Tax Evasion
Title Double Taxation and Tax Evasion: Report — Document C. 216. M. 85 (London, April 12th, 1927) — Legislative History of United States Tax Conventions
Date 1927
Author League of Nations: Committee of Technical Experts on Double Taxation and Tax Evasion
Title Double Taxation and Tax Evasion: Report Presented by the General Meeting of Government Experts on Double Taxation and Tax Evasion — Document C.562.M.178.1928.II. (Geneva, October 31st, 1928) — Legislative History of United States Tax Conventions
Date 1928
Author League of Nations Economic and Financial Commission
Title Report on Double Taxation submitted to the Financial Committee — Economic and Financial Commission Report by the Experts on Double Taxation — Document E.F.S.73. F.19 (April 5th 1923) — Legislative History of United States Tax Conventions (published in 1962 as vol 4).
Date 1923
Author Joint Committee on Internal Revenue of Taxation
Title London and Mexico Model Tax Conventions Commentary and Text. — C.88.M.88.1946.II.A. (Geneva, November 1946) — Legislative History of United States Tax Conventions
Date 1946
Author League of Nations Fiscal Committee
Title Report to the Council on the Work of the First Session of the Committee (Geneva, October 17th to 26th, 1929) — Legislative History of United States Tax Conventions
Date 1929
Author League of Nations Fiscal Committee
Title Report to the Council on the Work of the Second Session of the Committee — Document C.340.M.140.1930.II. (Geneva, May 22nd to 31st, 1930) — Legislative History of United States Tax Conventions
Date 1930
Author League of Nations Fiscal Committee
Title Report to the Council on the Work of the Third Session of the Committee — Document C.415.M.171.1931.II.A. (Geneva, May 29th to June 6th, 1931) — Legislative History of United States Tax Conventions
Date 1931
Author League of Nations Fiscal Committee
Title Report to the Council on the Fourth Session of the Committee. — C.399.M.204. 1933.II.A. (Geneva, June 15th to 26th, 1933) — Legislative History of United States Tax Conventions
Date 1933
Author League of Nations Fiscal Committee
Title Report to the Council on the Fifth Session of the Committee — Document C.252.M.124.1935.II.A. (Geneva, June 12th to 17th, 1935) — Legislative History of United States Tax Conventions
Date 1935
Author League of Nations Fiscal Committee
Title Work of the Fiscal Committee during Its Sixth Session — C.450.M.266.1936.II.A. (Geneva, October 15th to 21st, 1936) — Legislative History of United States Tax Conventions
Date 1936
Author League of Nations Fiscal Committee
Title Report to the Council on the Seventh Session of the Committee. — C.490.M.331.1937.II.A (Geneva, October 11th to 16th, 1937) — Legislative History of United States Tax Conventions
Date 1937
Author League of Nations Fiscal Committee
Title Report to the Council on the Work of the Eight Session of the Committee — C.384.M.229.1938.II.A. (Geneva October 17th to 20th, 1938) — Legislative History of United States Tax Conventions
Date 1938
Author League of Nations Fiscal Committee
Title Report to the Council on the Work of the Ninth Session of the Committee. — C.181.M.110.1939.II.A. (Geneva, June 12th to 21st 1939) — Legislative History of United States Tax Conventions
Date 1939
Author League of Nations Fiscal Committee
Title Report on the Work of the Tenth Session of the Committee. — C.37.M.37.1946.II.A. (Geneva, March 20th to 26th, 1946) — Legislative History of United States Tax Conventions
Date 1946
Author Mitchell B. Carroll
Title Taxation of Foreign and National Enterprises Volume 1
France, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom and the United States of America
Date 1932
Author Mitchell B. Carroll
Title Taxation of Foreign and National Enterprises Volume 2
Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Danzig, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Roumania, Switzerland
Date 1933
Author Mitchell B. Carroll
Title Taxation of Foreign and National Enterprises Volume 3
British India, Canada, Japan, Massachusetts, Mexico, Netherlands, New York, South Africa, Wisconsin
Date 1933
Author Mitchell B. Carroll
Title Taxation of Foreign and National Enterprises Volume 4
Methods of allocating taxable income
Date 1933
Author Mitchell B. Carroll
Title Taxation of Foreign and National Enterprises Volume 5
Date 1933