Commonwealth Places (Mirror Taxes) (Modification of Applied Law - Victoria) Notice 2013

Clause 1:

Citation

This clause provides that this Notice is to be cited as the Commonwealth Places (Mirror Taxes) (Modification of Applied Law - Victoria) Notice 2013.

Clause 2:

Commencement

This clause provides the date on which the Commonwealth Places (Mirror Taxes) (Modification of Applied Law – Victoria) Notice 2013 comes into operation.

As the Commonwealth Places (Mirror Taxes) (Modification of Applied Law – Victoria) Notice 2013 is a registrable instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 (Commonwealth), the Notice comes into operation on the day after the day it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.

Clause 3:

When modifications have effect

This clause provides that the Notice has effect on and from 8 February 2001. This is the date from which the Commonwealth Places (Mirror Taxes) (Modification of Applied Law - Victoria) Notice 2001 took effect. The 2001 Notice introduced detailed amendments to applied laws commencing, at the earliest, on 6 October 1997. As such, the modifications introduced for the period 6 October 1997 to 8 February 2001 are comprehensive and can remain in place.

Under section 8(5) of the Commonwealth Act, modifications prescribed in a notice under section 8 of the Commonwealth Act may be expressed to take effect from a date that is earlier than the date on which the modifications are published in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette.

Clause 4:

Definitions

This clause provides, for the purposes of this notice, self-explanatory definitions of the following terms:

• applied Victorian law;
• Commonwealth place;
• corresponding Victorian taxing law;
• non-Commonwealth place;
• State modification;
• tax;
• the Act;
• the Notice;
• the Victorian Mirror Taxes Administration; and
• Victorian taxing law

Clause 5:

Modifications of applied laws

This clause provides for the modifications prescribed by the Notice.

Subclause (1) provides that each applied Victorian law is modified so that it applies without any of the State modifications of the corresponding Victorian taxing law that are necessary for the purposes of the mirror taxes scheme.

Subclause (2) provides that the Commonwealth Places (Mirror Taxes Administration) Act 1999 (Victoria) (the Administration Act), in its operation as an applied Victorian law, is modified by omitting section 7A and 7B.

Section 7A of the Administration Act provides for the modified operation of Victorian State taxing laws for the purposes of the mirror taxes scheme in a manner similar to the amendments to the applied laws, i.e. the

necessary amendments are ‘read in’ rather than explicitly made. Section 7B provides that a person is not required to take action under a Victorian State taxing law in relation to an event, state of affairs or transaction if the person has already taken action in relation to that event, state of affairs or transaction under a corresponding applied law.

Sections 7A and 7B are specific in their operation to State taxing laws so it is unnecessary for them to operate in respect of the applied laws.

Subclause (3) provides that each applied Victorian law is modified to the extent that it is necessary or convenient:

(a)           for the purpose of enabling the effective operation of the applied Victorian law as a law of the Commonwealth; and

(b)           for the purpose of enabling the applied Victorian law to operate so that the combined liability of a taxpayer under:

(i)             the applied Victorian law, and

(ii) the corresponding Victorian taxing law,

is as nearly as possible the same as the taxpayer’s liability would be under the corresponding Victorian taxing law alone if the Commonwealth places in Victoria were not Commonwealth places.

The purpose of subclause (3) is to ensure that a person who has a taxation liability in both non-Commonwealth and Commonwealth places in Victoria is no better or no worse off than if all their liabilities arose in a non-Commonwealth place. 

Subclause (4) provides that, if an applied Victorian law applies to an event, state of affairs or transaction that occurred, existed or was entered into on or after 8 February 2001 then, to the extent of any inconsistency, the modifications (if any) to the applied Victorian law that have effect under this clause in relation to the event, state of affairs or transaction prevail over the modifications (if any) to the applied Victorian law that had effect under the Commonwealth Places (Mirror Taxes) (Modification of Applied Law – Victoria) Notice 2001, as in force before its repeal. This clarifies that the modifications introduced by this Notice prevail over any modifications made under the Commonwealth Places (Mirror Taxes) (Modification of Applied Law – Victoria) Notice 2001, should there be any inconsistency between the two types of modifications.

Subclause (5) provides that this clause does not authorise any modification for the purposes of overcoming a difficulty that arises from the requirements of the Constitution.

Clause 6:

Amount of tax payable

This clause clarifies that the amount of tax payable by a person who has a liability in both Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth places will be the same as it would be if the Commonwealth places were non-Commonwealth places.

This is achieved by providing that the applied Victorian law is modified so that that, where a person is liable to pay an amount of tax in respect of one or more Commonwealth places under an applied Victorian law and is also liable to pay an amount of tax in respect of one or more non-Commonwealth places under the corresponding Victorian taxing law, a person is liable to pay tax under the applied Victorian law in an amount being the notional total tax less the amount of tax payable in respect of one or more non-Commonwealth places. The notional total tax is the amount of tax that would be payable by the person if each Commonwealth place was a non-Commonwealth place and tax was calculated accordingly.

Clause 7:

Actions taken under corresponding Victorian taxing law

Subclause (1) provides that, if a person is required or permitted, or could be required or permitted, to take the action under both a Victorian taxing law and the corresponding applied law in relation to the same event, state of affairs or transaction and they have taken action in accordance with the corresponding Victorian taxing law, they are not required to also take action for the purposes of the corresponding applied law.

The Commissioner of State Revenue must have sufficient information about the event, state of affairs or transaction to carry out his or her functions in relation to it under the Victorian taxing law or the corresponding applied law or both, as the case requires.

Subclause (2) provides that if subsection (1) applies to a person in relation to an event, state of affairs or transaction, the Commissioner of State Revenue may carry out his or her functions in relation to the event, state of affairs or transaction as if the person had taken whatever action is required or permitted under the applied Victorian law in relation to the event, state of affairs or transaction.

Clause 8:

Repeal of Notice

This clause repeals the Commonwealth Places (Mirror Taxes) (Modification of Applied Law - Victoria) Notice 2001.