Page 2215 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 6 June 1990
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think things are bad at present, then in future they will suffer a nightmare, because the money is not there. The Federal Government has reneged on its promise to supply three years' guaranteed funding to this Assembly. As yet we have not done what we should do on that, although the Chief Minister has come out and spoken very strongly on the matter, and I commend him for that. But we should not attack small businesses with extra taxes; we should not attack them with extra regulations. They do not need our support; they simply need to be left to their own devices in order to allow the phenomenal enterprise spirit that is in Australians to achieve that which we need so badly in Canberra - a greater economy, more employment and better productivity.
MR DUBY (Minister for Finance and Urban Services) (4.58), in reply: These revenue raising and anti-avoidance measures were budget proposals of the former Government, and the Stamp Duties and Taxes (Amendment) Bill 1990 will give effect to those proposals. Of the proposals included in the Bill, the ones most likely to impact on revenue are the imposition of a tax on the sale of businesses and the shifting of the liability for tax on the sale of motor vehicles from the purchaser to the motor trader.
The proposal relating to business agreements will affect transfers of interests in partnerships and sole traders, bringing them into line with businesses operating through companies and under unit trusts. Duty will only be payable in respect of a business that is wholly or partly conducted in the ACT. To the extent that a business is conducted partly outside the ACT, duty is payable only on the portion of the business applicable to this jurisdiction, to the ACT.
Taxpayers will be required to lodge a return with the commissioner and, where part of the business is conducted outside the ACT, to nominate the basis of apportioning the value of ACT versus non-ACT assets. The Bill will also increase revenue by reducing amounts presently forgone due to the understatement of motor vehicle values for stamp duty purposes. This problem will be substantially eliminated by providing for licensed vehicle dealers to be liable for tax on vehicles sold by them.
The remaining amendments are either of an anti-avoidance or of a housekeeping nature, and I might speak about anti-avoidance measures in a short time. In respect of duty on insurance policies, the ACT has been the odd one out in not being able to assess dutiability on the basis of the location of the risk. This means that the ACT has been losing revenue on policies written outside the ACT but in respect of ACT property or, in the case of life policies, ACT residents. By clarifying these criteria in the legislation, the ACT will be brought into line with the other States and it will be a long overdue provision.
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