EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES NO. 245
DEPARTURE TAX COLLECTION REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
(Issued by the authority of the Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs)
Section 15 of the Departure Tax Collection Act 1978 (the Act) empowers the Governor-General to make Regulations, inter alia, for the purposes of prescribing matters permitted by the Act to be prescribed or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.
Section 5 of the Act provides that departure tax is not payable in respect of the departure from Australia of various persons including those who have been prescribed for the purposes of that section. Regulation 11 of the Departure Tax Collection Regulations (the Regulations) lists persons who are prescribed persons for the purposes of section 5 of the Act.
These Regulations overcome certain anomalies and inequities which had become apparent in the operation of departure tax arrangements by (i) removing the tax exemption now enjoyed by passengers who depart Australia other than by aircraft; (ii) not imposing the tax on transit passengers who depart Australia not later than the day after their arrival or who are prevented from doing so by circumstances outside their control, and (iii) imposing the tax only once in respect of passengers whose travel plans necessitate multiple departures from Australia in the course of a journey.
Regulation 1(a) omits paragraph 11(1) of the Regulations.
Before its omission paragraph 11(1) of the Regulations included, among those persons prescribed for the purposes of section 5 of the Act, passengers on a vessel (not being an aircraft) who satisfied certain conditions. There was no similar exemption for a passenger on an aircraft. Regulation 1(a) removed this anomaly.
Paragraph 5(1)(d) of the Act provides that departure tax is not payable in respect of the departure from Australia of a person who has arrived in Australia but is not, for the purposes of the Migration Act 1958, deemed by sub-section 5(2) of the Migration Act 1958 to have entered
Australia. Thus, persons arriving in Australia by aircraft or ship are not liable to departure tax if they do not disembark from the aircraft or ship in Australia, or in the case of a proclaimed airport, if they do not leave the airport.
Regulation 1(a) substitutes a new paragraph 11(1)(i) which exempts persons from departure tax when they depart from Australia not later than the day after their arrival. This provision removed the liability of genuine transit passengers to pay the departure tax where they left the airport before their departure from Australia.
Regulation 1(a) also substitutes a new paragraph 11(1)(ii) which exempts from departure tax a person who intended to depart from Australia not later than the day following his arrival but who was prevented from so doing by reason of circumstances beyond his control providing he leaves Australia as soon as it is reasonably practicable to do so after those circumstances have ceased to exist.
Regulation 1(a) also substituted a new paragraph 11(m) which exempts from departure tax a person who is undertaking a prescribed voyage and who, on a previous departure by him from Australia in the course of that voyage, was required to pay the tax in respect of that previous departure.
Regulation 1(b) adds a new sub-regulation to regulation 11 to define a “prescribed voyage” in new regulation 11(1).
Regulation 2 provides for the abovementioned amendments to operate on 1 November 1983.
Overview
The Departure Tax Collection Regulations (Amendment) Statutory Rules 1983 were enacted to address various anomalies and inequities in the application of departure tax as stipulated in the Departure Tax Collection Act 1978. This amendment was issued under the authority of the Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, aiming to rectify issues that had surfaced in the enforcement of departure tax regulations. Notably, the amendment sought to eliminate exemptions that had been unfairly applied to passengers departing Australia by means other than aircraft, ensure that genuine transit passengers who depart within a day of arrival are not subjected to the tax, and prevent multiple taxation on passengers who must depart Australia more than once as part of a single journey. These changes were designed to bring uniformity and fairness to the application of departure tax across all modes of departure and circumstances of travel.
Scope and Application
The Departure Tax Collection Regulations (Amendment) 1983 amends the existing Departure Tax Collection Regulations to address specific anomalies and inequities in the application of departure tax under the Departure Tax Collection Act 1978. These Regulations primarily impact passengers departing Australia, ensuring consistency in the application of departure tax regardless of the mode of transport. The amendments remove the exemption for passengers departing by vessels other than aircraft, aligning the regulation with those for air passengers. Furthermore, transit passengers who depart within a day of arrival or are delayed by circumstances beyond their control are exempted from paying the departure tax, provided they leave Australia as soon as reasonably practicable after the delay. Additionally, passengers who have already paid the departure tax during a prescribed voyage are exempt from paying it again for subsequent departures within the same voyage. These changes aim to ensure fairness and clarity in the application of departure tax, effective from 1 November 1983.
Key Provisions
The Departure Tax Collection Regulations (Amendment) primarily address and amend certain provisions of the existing Departure Tax Collection Regulations to rectify anomalies and inequities that had arisen in the application of departure tax. The key sections and provisions of this Amendment include the removal of the exemption for passengers departing by means other than aircraft (Reg. 1(a)), the exemption of transit passengers who leave Australia within a day of arrival or are prevented from doing so by circumstances beyond their control (Reg. 1(a)), and the exemption for passengers making multiple departures as part of a single voyage (Reg. 1(a)). Additionally, Regulation 2 specifies that these amendments will take effect from 1 November 1983.
These Regulations impose specific obligations on various parties. Firstly, they require that departure tax be applied uniformly to all modes of departure, effectively removing the previous exemption for non-aircraft departures (Reg. 1(a)). Secondly, they mandate that transit passengers who leave Australia within a day of arrival or who are unable to leave due to uncontrollable circumstances are exempt from the departure tax (Reg. 1(a)). Thirdly, they impose the departure tax only once for passengers undertaking a prescribed voyage, even if they have multiple departures from Australia during that journey (Reg. 1(a)). These obligations ensure a fair and consistent application of the departure tax.
The Regulations do not explicitly state any new offences, penalties, or consequences for breach. However, any failure to comply with the new requirements for departure tax liability, as outlined in the Regulations, could potentially result in civil consequences. This includes the requirement to pay the departure tax when due or face legal action for non-compliance. Additionally, while not explicitly stated, any significant non-compliance or deliberate evasion of the departure tax could result in criminal charges under the relevant sections of the Departure Tax Collection Act 1978, which could lead to criminal penalties as prescribed by law.