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Fuel Blending (Penalty Surcharge) Bill 1997
Date Introduced: 25 June 1997
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Industry, Science and Tourism
Commencement: On commencement of the Excise Tariff (Fuel Rates
Amendments) Act 1997
To impose a penalty surcharge on the blending of marked and unmarked fuel.
The reader is referred to the Bills Digest for the Excise Tariff (Fuel Rates Amendments) Bill 1997.
The use of a 'marker' (a chemical additive) in petroleum products which are free of duty (for use other than as a fuel), or at a low rate of duty (for use as a fuel other than in an internal combustion engine), is the centrepiece of the measures proposed to prevent the substitution of concessionally taxed petroleum products for higher taxed transport fuels.The presence of the marker will be evidence of substitution and will be the criterion for the penalty surcharge under this Bill.
Clause 5 imposes the penalty on the blending of marked and unmarked fuel if the resulting mixture is itself marked fuel, that is, if it contains the marker at or above a prescribed proportion to be determined by regulation (Item 5C of Schedule 1 of the Excise Tariff (Fuel Rates Amendments) Bill 1997 refers).Clause 5 also states that the penalty surcharge will be imposed on all the fuel in the blend.Under Clause 6 the penalty is payable by the person owning the fuel immediately after it is blended.
Clause 7 sets out the rate of the penalty surcharge which is twice the maximum excise payable on automotive diesel fuel.In theory the penalty surcharge applies to every person who blends fuel.However Clause 14 of the Fuel (Penalty Surcharges) Administration Bill 1997 exempts from record keeping obligations those people who blend fuel in volumes less than a threshold (to be determined by regulation), so in practical terms, the 'average motorist' may never be audited and will not be affected by the provisions.
Rosemary Bell
4 September 1997
Bills Digest Service
Information and Research Services
This Digest does not have any official legal status. Other sources should be consulted to determine whether the Bill has been enacted and, if so, whether the subsequent Act reflects further amendments.
IRS staff are available to discuss the paper's contents with Senators and Members and their staff but not with members of the public.
ISSN 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 1997
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Published by the Department of the Parliamentary Library, 1997.
This page was prepared by the Parliamentary Library, Commonwealth of
Australia
Last updated: 9 September 1997