Doomsday: Inside Job

Earth is humanity’s cradle, but by no means can it completely harbour us from harm. Many risks threaten individual lives, but there are some catastrophic enough to wipe out entire species. Is it possible for the prolific human species to face extinction?

We knew the world would not be the same ... "Now I have become Death, the destroyer of worlds"...I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.

J. Robert Oppenheimer, director of the Manhattan Project

History
In 1933, Leó Szilárd proposed that free neutrons could be used to start a chain atomic reaction. In 1938, Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann found barium in a uranium solution bombarded with neutrons. The next year, World War II started, during which the United States undertakes the Manhattan Project. It produced the first working nuclear weapons (atomic bombs), one of which dropped on Hiroshima, Japan and another on Nagasaki (pictured above). These attacks caused Japan to surrender, ending the War.

GST on Gold Selling

As questionable it may be, gold selling is a way to make money. Like any other Australian business, a Australian gold seller may get taxed on their proceeds, and if they have not been declaring such income on their BAS (business activity statement), they may well be running up a tax debt...

Josh, as well as his friends Guy and Sandy, have dipped their toes into the grey market, and are now wondering if they will have to pay GST (Goods and Services Tax). Unfortunately, they find the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act) too daunting to find out themselves. Will you be able to help them?

This problem has been taken out of Understanding Taxation Law 2011 (see bibliography for full citation), and the GST Act as of 1 November 2010 has been referred to.

How to attract the tax collector
In the GST Act:

• s 7-1 says that "GST is payable on taxable supplies and taxable importations".
• s 9-5 says that a taxable supply is made if a supply is made for consideration in the course or furtherance of an enterprise carried on, if it is connected with Australia and the supplier is registered or required to be registered.