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STATE REVENUE LEGISLATION (FURTHER AMENDMENT)
BILL 1992*
NEW SOUTH WALES
EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This Explanatory Note relates to this Bill as introduced into Parliament)
The object of this Bill is to amend the following revenue and other Acts, for the
following purposes:
Business Franchise Licences (Petroleum Products) Act 1987 ("the Petrol Act") and
the Business Franchise Licences (Tobacco) Act 1987 ("the Tobacco Act")
· to increase penalties for certain offences
· to provide that the maximum penalty applicable to a corporation convicted of an
offence under the Petrol Act or the Tobacco Act is 5 times the maximum
pecuniary penalty otherwise applying to the offence
· to enable the relevant Chief Commissioner under the Petrol Act or the Tobacco
Act to require corporate applicants and corporate licensees to furnish relevant
particulars relating to shareholdings in the corporation
· to provide that an application for a licence under the Petrol Act or the Tobacco
Act may be refused, and such a licence may be cancelled, if the applicant or
licensee has been or is convicted of an offence under the Act concerned
· to make it clear that. a retailer is not liable to pay the licence fee in respect of
tobacco purchased from a licensed wholesaler only if the wholesaler is liable to
pay the licence fee in respect of that tobacco
· to modify the scheme under the Petrol Act which currently provides that diesel
fuel purchased for off-road use is disregarded for the purpose of calculating the
licence fee that would otherwise be payable in respect of the fuel
· to make other consequential and miscellaneous changes.
* Amended in committee--see table at end of volume.
Debits- Tax Act 1990
· to exempt from duty offshore transactions by offshore banking units
· to exempt from duty debits made in order to compensate a financial institution
for financial institutions duty paid or payable under the Stamp Duties Act 1920.
Health Insurance Levies Act 1982
· to vary the method of calculating the health insurance levy
· to ensure that the obligation to pay the levy is not avoided by a cessation of
business.
Pay-roll Tax Act 1971
to provide that money or other valuable consideration paid or given by a third
party to a fourth party is to be treated as "wages" for the purposes of the Act if
it would be regarded as wages had it been paid or given directly to an employee
by the employee's employer
to provide that benefits exempt from the Commonwealth Fringe Benefits Tax
Assessment Act 1986 are not to be regarded as "wages" for the purposes of the
Pay-roll Tax Act 1971 even though they might otherwise be treated as wages for
those purposes and thus liable to pay-roll tax
to clarify the exemption from pay-roll tax for employer contributions to
superannuation and retirement benefit funds
to provide that, in relation to contracts for the performance of services, the
pay-roll tax exemption level below which the consideration payable under those
contracts may
taxable is increased from $500,000 a year to $800,000 a year
to exempt from pay-roll tax wages paid in New South Wales for services wholly
performed outside Australia where the first payment for the services was made
more than 6 months previously
to enable the Chief Commissioner of Pay-roll Tax to recover the equivalent of
outstanding pay-roll tax from a person who owes money to an employer who
owes that tax even though the person is the Crown or a Crown agency
to exempt from pay-roll tax wages paid to Aboriginal people under the
Community Development Employment Project administered by the Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander Commission
to enable members of a group to lodge a joint tax return
to simplify administration by reverting to the system used before 1990 under
which one member of each group of employers (called the "designated group
employer") is entitled to claim the whole of the group's threshold tax exemption
of up to $500,000 and the other members of the group are taxed at a flat rate
(now 7% of taxable wages)
to change from 31 July 1993 to 6 August 1992 the date after which an employer
may no longer elect to contribute to the Education and Training Foundation Fund
and to change from 31 July 1993 to 18 August 1992 the date after which pay-roll
tax paid to the Chief Commissioner will no longer be paid into the Pay-roll Tax
Suspense Account (established in the Special Deposits Account in the Treasury)
to remove doubt as to the application of the Limitation Act 1969 to the recovery
of further tax, additional tax and penal tax imposed by or under the Act.
Stamp Duties Act 1920
· to provide for a different method of assessing duty payable on loan securities
where the security consists of some New South Wales property and some
non-New South Wales property
· to extend provisions making transferred loan securities dutiable
· to close duty avoidance loopholes relating to primary applications under the Real
Property Act 1900
· to exempt from financial institutions duty offshore transactions by offshore
banking units and certain treasury products
· to exempt from financial institutions duty receipts by dealers of the proceeds of a
sale of units in a unit trust scheme where stamp duty has already been paid
· to extend concessional financial institutions duty payable for short term
liabilities to purchases of units in cash management trusts
· to enable duty payable by adhesive duty stamps to be rounded down to the
nearest 5 cents
· to enable stamp duty payable by unregistered persons in respect of insurance
premiums to be refunded if the premiums are refunded
· to ensure that profits or gains of a short term dealer from a short term dealing are
subject to financial institutions duty
· to alter the current provision that makes agreements stamped on an interim basis
(because the full amount on which duty is payable cannot be ascertained)
admissible in evidence for limited purposes so that they will be admissible for all
purposes while that full amount remains unascertainable
· to exempt a conveyance of vacant land from stamp duty when it is between
marriage or de facto partners and results in ownership in their joint names if the
couple intend to build a house on the land and occupy it as their principal place
of residence
· to exempt an assignment of rent from stamp duty when property is sold and the
assignment is to the vendor by the purchaser of the property for the purpose of
facilitating the apportionment of unpaid rent between the vendor and the
purchaser
· to extend the existing stamp duty exemption for conveyances of matrimonial
property pursuant to court orders and other procedures under the Family Law
Act 1975 of the Commonwealth to include conveyances that result from an
auction of the property
· to exempt rural lands protection boards from payment of stamp duty on the issue
of a motor vehicle certificate of registration
· to allow the Chief Commissioner to grant exemption from stamp duty on motor
vehicle certificates of registration in circumstances in which it would not be just
and reasonable to require payment
· to extend and clarify an existing exemption from stamp duty for sales and
purchases of shares on behalf of options traders for hedging purposes, and to
create a parallel exemption for sales and purchases on behalf of futures brokers
to extend an existing stamp duty exemption on share transfers for the purpose of
a bona fide securities lending transaction
· t o exempt capital grants agreements and recurrent subsidy agreements under the
Aged or Disabled Persons Care Act 1954 of the Commonwealth from stamp
duty
· to make miscellaneous minor amendments
· to enact consequential savings and transitional provisions.
The amendments to the Business Franchise Licences (Petroleum Products) Act 1987
and the Business Franchise Licences Tobacco) Act 1987 concerning increased penalties
are explained in the Table at the end of this Explanatory Note. Each of those Acts is also
amended to provide that the maximum penalty applicable to a corporation convicted of
an offence under the Act concerned is 5 times the maximum pecuniary penalty
otherwise applying to the offence.
The expression "penalty unit" used in the Bill has its basis in section 56 of the
Interpretation Act 1987. At present, 1 penalty unit is equivalent to $100. The proposed
increased penalties are expressed in the Table in equivalent monetary terms.
Clauses 18 are machinery provisions specifying the short title of the proposed Act,
providing for its commencement and giving effect to the Schedules to the Act
containing amendments and savings, transitional and other provisions.
Clause 9 makes it clear that the explanatory notes contained in the Schedules do not
form part of the proposed Act.
The proposed Act contains Schedules 16, which amend various Acts. The
amendments are explained in detail in the explanatory notes set out in the Schedules.
TABLE
Penalties under the Business Franchise Licences (Petroleum Products) Act 1987
The maximum penalty for the following specified offences under the Business
Franchise Licences- (Petroleum Products) Act 1987 are increased as follows:
offence
existing penalty new penalty
sections 28 (selling without licence) and 31
$2,000
$10,000
(selling on unlicensed premises)
sections 29 (wholesaling without licence), 30
$5,000
$10,000
(retailing without licence) and 59 (records to
be kept)
section 36A (change of particulars of licensee
$2,000
$5,000
to be notified)
section 53 (requirement to answer questions
$1,000 or 3
$10,000 or 3
or to produce documents etc.)
months' gaol
months' gaol (or
(or both)
both)
section 56 (6) (failing to produce, or
$2,000
$10,000
producing false, transportation records)
section 60 (invoices to be endorsed)
$5,000
$10,000
offence
existing, penalty
new penalty
section 61 (false representations on invoices)
$5,000
$10,000
section 63 (false or misleading statements)
$5,000 or 1
$10,000 or 1
year's gaol (or
year's gaol (or
both)
both)
section
66
(obstruction
of
Chief
$1,000 or 3
$10,000 or 3
Commissioner or inspector)
months' gaol
months 'gaol (or
(or both)
both)
section 72 (payment by third party of debts
$1,000
$5,000
payable to Chief Commissioner)
section 76 (offences against the regulations)
$2,000
$5,000
Penalties under the Business Franchise Licences (Tobacco) Act 1987
The maximum penalty for the following specified offences under the Business
Franchise Licences (Tobacco) Act 1987 are increased as follows:
offence
existing penalty
new penalty
sections 28 (selling without licence) and 31
$2,000
$10,000
(selling on unlicensed premises)
sections 29 (wholesaling without licence), 30
$5,000
$10,000
(retailing without licence) and 66 (records to
be kept)
section 32 (vending machine to display
$1,000
$2,000
licence particulars etc.)
section 37A (change of particulars of licensee
$2,000
$5,000
to be notified)
section 55 (not complying with requirement
$1,000 or 3
$10,000 or 3
to answer questions or to produce documents
months' gaol
months' gaol (or
etc.)
(or both)
both)
section 63 (6) (failing to produce, or
$2,000
$10,000
producing false, transportation records)
section 67 (invoices to be endorsed) $5,000
$10,000
section 68 (false representations on invoices) $5,000
$10,000
section 69 (3) (disclosure of certain $5,000
$10,000
information without consent etc.)
section 70 (false or misleading Statements) $5,000 or 1
$10,000 or 1
year's gaol (or
year's gaol (or
both)
both)
offence
existing penalty
new penalty
section 73 (obstruction of Chief $1,000 or 3 $10,000 or 3
Commissioner or inspector) months' gaol months' gaol (or
(or both) both)
section 79 (payment by third party of debts $1,000 $5,000
payable to Chief Commissioner)
section 83 (offences against the regulations) $2,000 $5,000