Page 224 - Week 01 - Thursday, 14 February 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Title read by Clerk.
MR BARR (Kurrajong—Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Social Inclusion and Equality, Minister for Tourism and Special Events and Minister for Trade, Industry and Investment) (11.02): I move:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
I am pleased to introduce the Revenue Legislation Amendment Bill 2019. I do so because the government is committed to continued improvements and the effective operation of the territory’s tax laws. Tax revenue pays for important infrastructure and services right across the ACT, which benefits all residents. It is important that our tax laws are fair, effective and in line with community expectations.
This bill introduces amendments to protect territory revenue and preserve the integrity of the revenue collection system in the territory, and it addresses a range of minor technical and administrative matters related to tax law.
The amendments in this bill to the Taxation Administration Act 1999 will expand on existing debt recovery powers to enable more timely notification of outstanding tax debts. This will assist taxpayers and financiers to better manage financial risks and debt payment. It will also provide greater flexibility and effectiveness to existing debt recovery powers.
The bill provides the ACT Revenue Office with the ability to inform parties who have an interest in the property of a defaulting taxpayer, such as mortgagees or credit providers, of the amount of an outstanding tax debt and the existence of a statutory first charge. This will promote transparency and allow tax debts to be on a level playing field with private debts.
The bill also provides for the recovery of tax debts from mortgagee banks, similar to tax arrangements in New South Wales, Queensland and Victorian legislation. Provision is also made for tax debts to be registered as a first charge on land owned by a debtor. This will facilitate the recovery of unpaid tax debts from future sales proceeds or from the mortgagee of that land. These provisions include appropriate safeguards to ensure engagement with the tax debtor, to promote transparency of actions over clear time frames and to address the potential for substantial hardship to some affected parties.
The bill also proposes a further range of technical and minor amendments to other aspects of the ACT tax system. Under changes to the Taxation Administration Act 1999, it will be made clear that a 25 per cent penalty tax rate will be applied as the base default rate. This amendment will align the ACT with other jurisdictions.
Also, the requirement to give taxpayers 14 days to pay penalty tax would be removed. The period for payment would be that stated in a notice of assessment. This would be consistent with the provisions of other jurisdictions, such as Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. A general remission power for interest and penalty taxes is also
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video