Page 1029 - Week 03 - Thursday, 21 March 2019

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Schedule 1 Part 1.4 amendment 1.29, as amended, agreed to.

Schedule 1, part 1.4, amendments 1.30 to 1.35, by leave, taken together and agreed to.

Schedule 1, parts 1.5 and 1.6, including amendments 1.36 to 1.43, by leave, taken together and agreed to.

Schedule 1, part 1.7, amendment 1.44 agreed to.

Schedule 1, part 1.7, amendment 1.45.

MR COE (Yerrabi—Leader of the Opposition) (6.11): The opposition will be opposing this clause because, as stated before, we are concerned that the lack of a reasonableness test may mean Canberrans having penalties applied where they would otherwise have been considered for personal considerations.

I also want to touch on what Ms Le Couteur said earlier about the revenue office. We do not have a problem with how the staff of the revenue office operate; we have a problem with the directions that the Treasurer has given the revenue office. Our concerns are not with the people in the revenue office; they are with those opposite.

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) (6.12): This schedule amends the penalty tax provisions to realign the existing 25 per cent penalty tax rate as the only base default rate. It does this by inserting a discretion and specifying certain circumstances under which a 50 per cent rate may be applied. These circumstances involve the conduct of the taxpayer such as delays relating to payment or provision of information or providing incorrect, incomplete or misleading information or, as I mentioned earlier, someone who is a repeat tax defaulter.

It is required otherwise that the 50 per cent penalty rate will continue to apply as the other base default rate. But the ACT would not be aligned with the penalty tax regimes of other jurisdictions. This amendment is expected to result actually in fewer taxpayers being subject to the 50 per cent penalty tax rate from 1 July. The circumstances for the application of a 75 per cent penalty tax rate remain unchanged. However, an amendment is required for consistency in wording to match the discretion that is proposed for the application of the 50 per cent penalty tax rate.

Schedule 1, part 1.7, amendment 1.45 agreed to.

Schedule 1, part 1.7, amendment 1.46.

MR COE (Yerrabi—Leader of the Opposition) (6.14): The opposition opposes this clause, for the same reason or the same principle that I outlined in regard to amendment 1.45.

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