Page 4991 - Week 17 - Tuesday, 11 December 1990
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Detail Stage
Clauses 1 to 14, by leave, taken together, and agreed to.
Clause 15
Amendment (by Mr Duby) proposed:
Page 4, clause 15(b), lines 5 and 6, omit "'conducted by'", substitute "'conducted'".
MR COLLAERY (Attorney-General) (9.25): I would like to take this opportunity to rise in support of the Bill. The transfer of taxation functions from the Gaming and Liquor Authority to the Revenue Office is part of the Government's reforms to bring about greater efficiency in the delivery of Government services. The Leader of the Opposition was asking earlier for explanations as to why we do things. I thought I would now interpose the reasons more explicitly.
Last year the Revenue Office collected 84 per cent of tax revenue of the ACT. Since self-government the Revenue Office has been reorganised to enable it to efficiently discharge its responsibilities as the Territory's taxation authority. Liquor licence fees collected by the Gaming and Liquor Authority from liquor licensees and gaming machine operators are taxes and should be subject to the same regime of tax laws that apply to other taxpayers.
This Bill does not entirely achieve this, but the Government foreshadows further amendments to be introduced by the responsible Minister early in the new year. Those amendments will bring these taxes within the provisions of the Taxation (Administration) Act 1987. They will also standardise the administrative and assessment procedures, penalties and objection and appeal process for liquor and gaming machine taxes with other Territory tax laws.
Since self-government was introduced, the ACT has had to look closely at its revenue effort. Members will be aware that the Grants Commission had identified the Territory's below par revenue receipts as a reason for the overfunding which must be addressed during the next couple of years. Several new taxes have been introduced: an ambulance service levy, a tax on the sale of X-rated videos, and a tax on the acquisition of businesses. They are all new tax measures. While existing taxes are being broadened, anti-avoidance provisions need to be strengthened.
The impact on the Territory's internally generated tax revenue has been significant, rising by over 34 per cent in the last two years. As mentioned earlier, over 80 per cent of tax revenue is collected by the Revenue Office. The increased tax revenue has been achieved with no increase in the size of the Revenue Office. There has also been a 31 per cent reduction in the level of debt managed by the Revenue Office over the past 12 months. That was in a period when debts in other trading areas were increasing
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