Commonwealth Numbered Acts

FRINGE BENEFITS TAX ASSESSMENT ACT 1986 No. 39 of 1986 - SECT 99

99. (1) The Commissioner may, by notice in writing, require a person (in
this section referred to as the "debtor")-

   (a)  by whom money is due or accruing, or may become due, to an employer;

   (b)  who holds, or may subsequently hold, money for or on account of an
        employer, or for or on account of another person for payment to an
        employer; or

   (c)  who has, or may subsequently have, authority from another person to
        pay money to an employer, to pay to the Commissioner, at or before a
        time (in this
section referred to as the "payment time") specified in the notice (not being
a time before the notice is served on the debtor, or before the money becomes
due or is held, or the debtor so has authority, as the case may be) an amount
(in this section referred to as the "garnisheed amount") equal to-

   (d)  the whole of the money, or so much of it as is sufficient to pay the
        amount due by the employer in respect of tax; or

   (e)  such amount as is specified in the notice out of each payment that the
        debtor becomes liable to make to the employer, or, not being liable to
        make, makes to the employer, until the amount of tax is paid.

(2) The Commissioner may, by further notice in writing, revoke or vary a
notice under sub-section (1).

(3) The Commissioner shall cause a notice under sub-section (1) or (2) to be
served on the debtor and a copy of the notice to be served on the employer.

(4) A person who refuses or fails to comply with a notice under this section
is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: $1,000.
(5) Where a person (in this sub-section referred to as the "convicted person")
is convicted of an offence against sub-section (4) in relation to the refusal
or failure of the convicted person or another person to comply with a notice
under this section, the court may, in addition to imposing a penalty on the
convicted person, order the convicted person to pay to the Commissioner an
amount not exceeding the amount or the aggregate of the amounts, as the case
requires, that the convicted person or the other person, as the case may be,
refused or failed to pay to the Commissioner in accordance with the notice.

(6) A person making a payment pursuant to this section shall be deemed to be
acting with the authority of the employer and of all other persons concerned
and is, by force of this sub-section, indemnified in respect of the payment.

(7) If any payment in respect of the amount due by the employer is made before
payment is made by a person under a notice given pursuant to this section, the
Commissioner shall forthwith give notice to that person in accordance with
sub-section (2).

(8) The garnisheed amount is, from the payment time, a debt due to the
Commonwealth and recoverable in a court of competent jurisdiction.

(9) Where-

   (a)  money has been paid by a person to a building society in respect of
        the issue of shares in the capital of the society (not being shares
        listed for quotation on a Stock Exchange); and

   (b)  the money has not been repaid, the money shall, for the purposes of
        this section, be taken-

   (c)  in a case where the money is repayable on demand-to be due by the
        building society to the person; or

   (d)  in any other case-to be money that may become due by the building
        society to the person.

(10) Where, but for this sub-section, money is not due, or repayable on
demand, to a person unless a condition is fulfilled, the money shall be taken,
for the purposes of this section, to be due, or repayable on demand, as the
case may be, to the person notwithstanding that the condition has not been
fulfilled.

(11) A notice to be served under this section on the Commonwealth or on a
State or Territory may be served on a person employed by the Commonwealth or
by that State or Territory, as the case may be, being a person who, by or
under a law of the Commonwealth or of that State or Territory, is charged with
a duty of disbursing public money, and a notice so served shall be deemed, for
the purposes of this section, to have been served on the Commonwealth or that
State or Territory, as the case may be.

(12) In this section-

"building society" means a society registered or incorporated as a building
society, co-operative housing society or other similar society under the law
in force in a State or Territory;

"tax" includes-

   (a)  additional tax under section 93 or Part VIII;

   (b)  an amount that a person is liable to pay to the Commissioner under
        Division 2;

   (c)  a judgment debt or costs in respect of-

        (i)    tax;

        (ii)   additional tax under section 93 or Part VIII; or

        (iii)  an amount that a person is liable to pay to the Commissioner
               under Division 2;

   (d)  any fine or costs imposed by a court in respect of an offence against
        this Act; and

   (e)  any amount ordered by a court, upon the conviction of a person for an
        offence against this Act, to be paid by the person to the
        Commissioner.