Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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CUSTOMS AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2001 (NO. 4) 2001 NO. 119

STATUTORY RULES 2001 No. 119

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Justice and Customs

Customs Act 1901

Customs Amendment Regulations 2001 (No. 4)

Section 270 of the Customs Act 1901 (the Act) provides in part that the Governor-General may make regulations not inconsistent with the Act prescribing all matters which by the Act are required or permitted to be prescribed for giving effect to the Customs Act.

The purpose of the amending Regulations is to amend the Customs Regulations 1926 (the Regulations) to specify a circumstance in which, goods temporarily imported into Australia without the payment of duty and/or taxes are not required to be exported from Australia and to repeal two redundant forms.

Section 162 of the Act provides that where certain goods are imported and the importer intends to export those goods, the Collector may grant to the importer permission to take delivery of those goods upon giving a security or an undertaking for the payment of duty, goods and services tax (GST) and/or luxury car tax (LCT) payable on those goods.

Similarly, subsection 162A of the Act provides that the regulations may provide that certain goods may be brought into Australia on a temporary basis without the payment of duty, GST or LCT.

Prior to the commencement of the Taxation Laws Amendment Act (No. 8) 2000 (the Amendment Act) duty was not payable in respect of temporarily imported goods if they were not dealt with in contravention of the regulations and the goods were exported within the relevant time (usually 12 months after the date on which the goods were imported). Under those provisions, duty and/or taxes were payable in respect of temporarily imported goods that were not exported from Australia even if those goods had been destroyed or substantially damaged in Australia. In those circumstances, even though the goods would not be entering the commerce of Australia, the importer was required to pay the duty and/or taxes in respect of the goods.

The Amendment Act amended sections 162 and 162A of the Act, section 171-5 of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 and section 13-25 of the A New Tax System (Luxury Car Tax) Act 1999 so that goods temporarily imported without the payment of duty and/or taxes did not have to be exported if one or more of the circumstances or conditions specified in the regulations apply in relation to the goods (subparagraph 162(3)(b)(ii) and paragraph 162A(5)(b) of the Act refer).

Items 1 and 2 of Schedule 1 to the amending Regulations specify a circumstance in which duty, GST and LCT will not be payable on temporarily imported goods even though they have not been exported from Australia within the relevant time. New regulation 124A specifies the circumstance for the purposes of subparagraph 162(3)(b)(ii) of the Act and new regulation 125A specifies the circumstance for the purposes of paragraph 162A(5)(b) of the Act. That circumstance is where the goods have no value because they have been accidentally damaged or destroyed or, if the goods are an animal, it has died, or has been destroyed, because of an accident or illness.

Item 2 of Schedule 1 to the amending Regulations replaces current regulation 125A of the Regulations which related to the temporary importation of goods for the purposes of Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and associated events. This regulation is no longer required.

Item 3 of Schedule 1 to the amending Regulations omits redundant forms 58 and 59 from Schedule 1 to the Regulations. These forms were made for the purposes of section 196 of the Act and regulations 167 and 168 of the Regulations. Section 196 of the Act and regulations 167 and 168 were repealed in 1991. New regulations 167 and 168 were inserted into the Regulations in 1999 but these provisions are unrelated to the forms.

The amending Regulations commenced on gazettal.

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