Page 1251 - Week 04 - Thursday, 4 May 2006
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efficient and cost-effective. The government will, of course, explain to the community its decision on the review, and these decisions will be further explained through the 2006-07 budget.
MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: The discussion is concluded.
Revenue Legislation Amendment Bill 2005 (No 2)
Debate resumed from 15 December 2005, on motion by Mr Quinlan:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
MR STANHOPE (Ginninderra—Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Business and Economic Development, Minister for Indigenous Affairs, and Minister for the Arts) (5.17): The Revenue Legislation Amendment Bill 2005 (No 2) amends the Duties Act, the Land Tax Act, the Rates Act and the Payroll Tax Act.
The bill amends those areas of the Duties Act relating to insurance duty and duty on motor vehicle registration. Provisions relating to insurance duty clarify which insurers are required to register with the Commissioner for ACT Revenue. There are two amendments to the provisions relating to duty on motor vehicle registration.
The first amendment demonstrates the government’s commitment to supporting people with a disability. In introduces an exemption from duty on the cost of specific motor vehicle modifications made to accommodate the needs of people with a disability. This exemption applies to an owner with a disability who requires a vehicle to be modified in order to drive it. It also applies to an owner of a specifically modified vehicle used to transport a person with a disability. The definition of “person with a disability” in the Duties Act has been broadened and modernised to give effect to the proposal and to ensure consistency with the Commonwealth State Territory Disability Agreement. The second amendment applies to duty on the registration of new motor vehicles. The government has decided not to proceed with this amendment and will seek to remove the clause from the bill at the detail stage.
The bill also makes two amendments to the Payroll Tax Act. The first requires employers to register with the Commissioner for ACT Revenue when their wages paid or payable exceed the determined monthly payroll tax threshold. To reduce the compliance burden on employers who are already lodging returns, all current payroll taxpayers will be deemed to have registered from the commencement date of the provisions.
The second amendment to the Payroll Tax Act introduces an exemption for wages paid by group training organisations to trainees, including apprentices. It is restricted to wages paid to trainees by not-for-profit GTOs that provide training for trainees under approved trainee contracts and place these trainees with host employers.
As a revenue protection measure this bill amends the Rates Act and the Land Tax Act to augment existing provisions that allow the Commissioner for ACT Revenue to recover outstanding amounts of rates and land tax from long-term debtors. Under both acts the commissioner can apply to the courts for an order to sell a property for the non-payment of rates and land tax. The bill expands these provisions so that the commissioner may
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