EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
EXCISE ACT 1901
EXCISE REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
STATUTORY RULES 1989 No. 327
ISSUED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR SCIENCE, CUSTOMS AND SMALL BUSINESS
Section 164 of the Excise Act 1901 (the Act) provides in part that “(1) 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 as may be necessary or convenient to be prescribed for giving effect to this Act…”
Section 78 of the Act provides in part that
“(1) Remissions, rebates and refunds of excise duty may be allowed -
(a) in respect of excisable goods generally........; and
(b) in such circumstances, and subject to such conditions and restrictions (if any), as are prescribed, ...”
The proposed Statutory Rules will amend the Excise Regulations with effect from 1 July 1988 to prescribe a refund circumstance where goods upon which Excise duty has been paid are sold to a person for use by a Government of a country other than Australia, and for the official use of that Government, as prescribed by Departmental By-Laws.
• Direct duty-free entry of excisable goods is currently permitted by Item 13A of the Excise Tariff Act 1921 where the goods are for the official use of an overseas government.
• The refund circumstance is designed to provide a complementary duty-free facility for suppliers who clear duty-paid fuel supply it duty-free to installations for the official use by overseas Governments
- In particular, the circumstance will allow refunds of duties to Mobil Australia for that company’s supply of duty-paid fuel at a duty-free rate to the U.S. authorities at the Pine-Gap installation in the Northern Territory.
- The proposed refund circumstance will have retrospective effect to 1 July 1988, the date the Company commenced supplying duty-free fuel to the Pine Gap facility.
Amendments to the Excise Regulations
Regulation 1: provides that the amendments commence on 1 July 1988, the date the duty-free supply of fuel for the official use of the U.S. Government commenced at the Pine-Gap facility following the restructuring of delivery arrangements to that installation.
Regulation 2: will amend regulation 50 of the Regulations to insert a new paragraph 50(1)(u) into the Regulations to provide that a refund of Excise duty is payable where:
a. Excise duty has been paid on goods;
b. the goods are sold to a person for use by a Government of a country other than Australia and for the official use by that Government, as prescribed by Departmental By-Laws, being goods referred to in sub-item 13(A) of the Schedule to the Excise Tariff Act 1921: and
c. (i) the price at which the goods were sold to the person did not include an amount in respect of Excise duty; or
(ii) the price at which the goods were sold did include an amount in respect of Excise duty, but the person who sold the goods refunded that amount to the person buying the goods.