Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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RADIOCOMMUNICATIONS (RECEIVER LICENCE TAX) REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1993 NO. 163

STATUTORY RULES 1993 No. 163

Issued by the authority of the Minister for Communications

Radiocommunications (Receiver Licence Tax) Act 1983

Radiocommunications (Receiver Licence Tax) Regulations (Amendment)

The Radiocommunications (Receiver Licence Tax) Act 1983 (the Act) with its associated regulations is part of the regime by which the Government imposes a tax on Radiocommunications Receivers. Section 6 of the Act imposes a tax on the grant of a receiver licence and Section 7 of the Act provides that the amount of tax is the amount which is prescribed in the Radiocommunications (Receiver Licence Tax) Regulations. Another part of the regime is the Radiocommunications (Licensing and General) Regulations which contain definitions of the types of receivers to be taxed.

Section 9 of the Act provides that the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of section 7 of the Act. It also provides that different amounts of tax may be prescribed in respect of receiver licences included in different classes of receiver licences or in respect of persons included in different classes of persons, or both.

As part of the spectrum management reform established in the Radiocommunications Act 1992 the government established the Spectrum Management Agency (the SMA) which will come into operation on 1 July 1993. The SMA will continue to derive revenue by recovering receiver tax, but rather than prescribing the amount of receiver tax in regulations the SMA may set determinations of the amount of receiver tax.

The Radiocommunications (Receiver Licence Tax) Amendment Act 1992 (the 1992 Act) commences on 1 July 1993. Subsection 7(1) of the 1992 Act repeals section 7 of the Radiocommunications (Receiver Licence Tax) Act 1983 and substitutes a new Section 7 that provides for the amount of tax in respect of the issue of a receiver licence to be the amount determined by the SMA. Subsection 7(2) of the 1992 Act provides that until the SMA makes a determination under section 7 of the Radiocommunications (Receiver Licence Tax) Act 1983, as amended by the 1992 Act, the regulations made under section 9 that were in force immediately before the commencement of the 1992 Act continue in force as if they were determinations made by the SMA.

The purpose of the regulations is to insert a new definition and to clearly refer to the version of the Radiocommunications (Licensing and General) Regulations which was in force on 30 June 1993. Thus linking the SMA determination on 1 July 1993 to the receiver licence tax regime in place on 30 June 1993 which provides the framework whereby the SMA may continue the imposition of receiver tax, currently imposed in the Radiocommunications (Receiver Licence Tax) Regulations and the Radiocommunications (Licensing and General) Regulations.