INCOME
TAX (WAR-TIME ARRANGEMENTS).
No. 21 of 1942.
An Act to make provision relating to the
collection of taxes during the present war, and for other purposes.
[Assented
to 7th June, 1942.]
Preamble.
WHEREAS,
with a view to the public safety and defence of the Commonwealth and of the
several States and for the more effectual prosecution of the war in which His.
Majesty is engaged, it is necessary or convenient to provide for the matters
hereinafter set out:
Be it therefore enacted by the King’s
Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the
Commonwealth of Australia, as follows:—
Short
title.
1. This Act may be cited as the Income Tax (War-time
Arrangements) Act 1942.
Commencement.
2.This Act shall come into operation on the day on which
it receives the Royal Assent.
Definitions.
3. In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears—
“State
service” means any employment by the Crown in the right of a State, whether
permanent or temporary, and whether an employment to which the Act of that
State relating to the Public Service applies or not;
“transferred
officer” means any officer of a State Service who is transferred to the Public
Service of the Commonwealth under this Act.
Transfer
of State officers to Commonwealth.
4.The Treasurer may, at any time and from time to time,
after receipt of a recommendation from the Public Service Board, by notice in
writing addressed to the Treasurer of any State, notify him that, as from the
date specified in the notice, it is, in his opinion, necessary for the
efficient collection of revenue required for the prosecution of the war, for
the effective use of manpower, or otherwise for the defence of the
Commonwealth, that any officers of the State service specified in the notice
who have been engaged on duties which, in the opinion of the Treasurer, are
connected with the assessment or collection of taxes upon incomes should be
temporarily transferred to the Public Service of the Commonwealth, and any
officer so specified shall, by force of the notice, be temporarily transferred
to the Public Service of the Commonwealth accordingly as from that date.
Retransfer
of officers to State.
5.—(1.) Unless sooner retransferred, every transferred
officer shall be retransferred to the State service immediately after this Act
ceases to operate.
(2.) Any State to the service of which a
transferred officer is retransferred in accordance with this section, shall
reinstate that transferred officer to a position in the State service upon such
terms and conditions and with such existing and accruing rights as are not less
favorable than the terms, conditions and rights to which he would have been
entitled if this Act had not been passed and his service as a transferred
officer were service with the State.
(3.) Nothing in the last preceding sub-section
shall confer on any transferred officer who is dismissed from the Public
Service of the Commonwealth a right to be re-employed in the State service, or
on any transferred officer who is reduced in status in consequence of
inefficiency or misconduct a right to be employed in the State service with a
status or right of remuneration greater than that to which he is so reduced.
Terms
and conditions of employment of transferred officers.
6.—(1.) Except in relation to any pension, payment or
other benefit to be paid or granted on or after the retirement or death of any
transferred officer, the terms and conditions of employment of every
transferred officer shall, during the period of transfer, be as prescribed:
Provided that, except where he is
reduced in status in consequence of inefficiency or misconduct, the rate of
remuneration of a transferred officer shall be not less favorable than that to
which he would be entitled if he had been transferred at the rate of
remuneration to which he was entitled immediately prior to his transfer and in
the case of an officer entitled to advance to a maximum rate of remuneration by
periodical increments, had continued to advance by those increments.
(2.) Subject to the regulations, a transferred
officer shall not be subject to the provisions of the Commonwealth Public Service Act 1922–1941.
Officer
retiring or dying during period of transfer.
7.—(1.) Where, during the period of his transfer, a
transferred officer reaches the age for retirement fixed by the law of the
State concerned, or, in the opinion of the Public Service Board, ought to be
retired owing to his being unable efficiently to perform his duties on account
of ill-health or other cause, or, in the case of a female officer, marries,
that officer shall be retransferred to the State service for the purpose of
being retired, and shall be entitled to all rights of pension, payment and other
benefits to which he would have been entitled if this Act had not been passed
and his service as a transferred officer were service with the State.
(2.) Where, during the period of his transfer, a
transferred officer dies or resigns, he shall be deemed to have been
retransferred to the State service immediately prior to his death or the
acceptance of his resignation by the Public Service Board, as the case may be,
and all rights of pension, payment and other benefits arising in respect of the
officer’s service shall be ascertained as if this Act had not been passed and
his service as a transferred officer were service with the State.
Superannuation
contributions.
8.—(1.) Where a transferred officer would, but for his
transfer, have been liable to contribute to any State Fund established for the
purpose of providing superannuation or other benefits, he shall continue to be
liable to contribute to that Fund and to be eligible for those benefits, and
the Commonwealth shall, for this purpose, deduct from payments due to that
officer and pay to that Fund the contributions which, but for his transfer, he
would have been required to make to that Fund.
(2.) Where under the law of the State the State
also makes contributions to that Fund in respect of that officer, the
Commonwealth shall, in respect of the period of the officer’s transfer to the
Commonwealth, pay to the State an amount equal to the contributions which the
State so makes to the Fund.
Payments
to State by Commonwealth.
9.Where any person who has been a transferred officer is
retired from any State service or dies, and he is entitled or eligible on or
after retirement, or his dependants are entitled or eligible on or after his
death, as the case may be, to receive from the State any pension, payment or
other benefit (not being a pension, payment or other benefit payable out of a
Fund established for the purpose of providing such pension, payment or other
benefit and in respect of which the Commonwealth has made, or is liable to
make, payments to the State in accordance with sub-section (2.) of the last
preceding section) the Commonwealth shall pay to the State an amount equal to
such portion of any such pension or payment paid by the State, or cost to the
State of that other benefit, as the Treasurer, having regard to the length of
the officer’s period of transfer and the length of his service with the State,
thinks just.
Officers’
rights in State during period of transfer.
10.—(1.) Notwithstanding the transfer of any officer
to the Commonwealth in accordance with the provisions of this Act, a
transferred officer shall be deemed to remain an officer of the State service
during the period of his transfer for the purposes
(a) of being considered for any
promotion, or of exercising any right of appeal or objection against the
promotion of any other person, which, but for the transfer, he would have had
under State law; or
(b) in the case of a transferred officer
who was a temporary officer of the State service—of being appointed as a
permanent officer of the State service.
(2.) Unless the Public Service Board otherwise
directs, any such promotion or appointment of an officer in or to the State
service shall not terminate his transfer to the Public Service of the
Commonwealth under this Act.
Transfer
of office accommodation &c.
11.—(1.) The Treasurer may at any time and from time
to time, by notice in writing addressed to the Treasurer of any State, notify
him that, as from the date specified in the notice, it is, in his opinion,
necessary for the efficient collection of revenue required for the prosecution
of the war, for the effective use of manpower, or otherwise for the defence of
the Commonwealth, that the Commonwealth should, during the operation of this
Act, have the possession and use of any office accommodation, furniture and
equipment specified in the notice (whether specified particularly or in general
terms) and the Commonwealth shall have the possession and exclusive use of that
office accommodation, furniture and equipment accordingly as from that date.
(2.) The compensation to be paid by the
Commonwealth in respect of its possession and use of any such office
accommodation, furniture and equipment, and the extent of the obligations of
the Commonwealth with respect to that office accommodation furniture and equipment,
whether as to keeping it in good order and repair or otherwise, shall be as
agreed between the Commonwealth and the State, or, failing agreement, as
determined by an arbitrator appointed by the Governor-General.
(3.) Any arbitration under the last preceding
sub-section shall be conducted in accordance with the law of the State
concerned.
Suspension
of existing agreements.
12.All agreements between the
Commonwealth and any State
(a) made under the Income Tax Collection Act 1923 (or under that Act as amended and in
force at any time) relating to the collection of taxes by the Commonwealth on
behalf of any State or by any State on behalf of the Commonwealth; or
(b) under section two hundred and
twenty-one p of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936–1940, or
under that Act as amended and in force at any time,
shall,
notwithstanding any provision contained in any such agreement, be suspended as
from a date fixed by proclamation until this Act ceases to operate.
Transfer
of records.
13.Where any returns or records relating either wholly or
partly to the assessment or collection of any tax imposed upon incomes by the
Parliament of the Commonwealth are in the possession of a State, those returns
and records shall, as from the date of commencement of this Act, be transferred
to the possession of the Commonwealth:
Provided that any
persons authorized by the Treasurer of a State shall, at all reasonable times,
have access to, and may make and take away copies of, any such returns and
records which relate to the assessment or collection of any tax imposed upon
incomes by or under any law of that State.
Persons
not to hinder Commonwealth.
14.Where any returns or records are transferred to the
possession of the Commonwealth in accordance with the last preceding section,
or the Commonwealth becomes entitled to the possession and use of any office
accommodation, furniture or equipment in accordance with section eleven of this
Act, a person shall not in any way hinder or obstruct the Commonwealth in
taking possession of or using those returns or records, or that office
accommodation, furniture or equipment.
Penalty: One hundred
pounds or imprisonment for six months or, both.
Regulations.
15.The Governor-General may make regulations, not
inconsistent with this Act, prescribing all matters which by this Act are
required or permitted to be prescribed, or which are necessary or convenient to
be prescribed, for carrying out or giving effect to this Act, and, in
particular, for prescribing penalties, not exceeding Fifty pounds, for any
breach of the regulations.
Duration
of Act.
16.