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OFOF tax liability to be covered by government: IngramThe Independent Member for Gippsland East, has welcomed notification from the State Government that it will cover tax liabilities and interest costs of the Our Forests, Our Future (OFOF) workers who were involved in the timber worker payment bungle. By Craig Ingram - 6th July 2006 - Back to News "In correspondence received today, I have been notified that the Department of Victorian communities will make a payment to workers in respect of the tax, which should have been withheld from the Industry Restructure Payments that they received between 2002 and 2004," Mr Ingram said.
"The Department has stated that ‘These workers will receive payments to mitigate their tax liabilities as well as any interest charges on these liabilities.’
"I have been working with the Department in an attempt to get an acceptable outcome for the workers, and I believe this has been achieved.
"The whole OFOF process has been one disaster after another for workers and affected communities.
"The matter came to my attention in May this year when constituents started receiving letters from the government advising them of the tax oversight.
"At the time I stated that the Department is at fault, so the State Government must fix it as soon as possible and make sure that no one is out of pocket. If necessary, the government must pay the outstanding tax bills."
"I am pleased to see that the government has taken that advice.
"Individuals have used the money to pay off mortgages and other useful purposes, and most would not have the capacity to pay the unforseen tax liability," Mr Ingram concluded.
Source: http://gippsland.com/ Published by: news@gippsland.com
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