EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the Australian Communications and Media Authority
Radiocommunications (Receiver Licence Tax) Amendment Determination 2011 (No. 1)
Radiocommunications Act 1992
Purpose
The Radiocommunications (Receiver Licence Tax) Amendment Determination 2011 (No. 1) (the Amendment Determination) amends the Radiocommunications (Receiver Licence Tax) Determination 2003 (No. 2) (the Determination).
Legislative Provisions
The Determination and Amendment Determination are both made under subsection 7(1) of the Radiocommunications (Receiver Licence Tax) Act 1983 (the Act) which provides that the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) may determine the amount of tax in respect of:
- the issue of a receiver licence;
- the anniversary of a receiver licence coming into force; and
- the holding of a receiver licence.
Subsection 33(3) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 provides that when an Act confers a power to make an instrument, that power shall, unless the contrary intention appears, be construed as including a power exercisable in a like manner and subject to like conditions, to amend that instrument.
Background
Under the Radiocommunications Act 1992, the ACMA is responsible for maintaining an efficient, equitable and transparent system of charging for the use of spectrum. The annual tax levied on apparatus licences allows the ACMA to create economic incentives for efficient use of the spectrum. It encourages licensees to use the minimum amount of bandwidth for their needs, move to less congested bands, and surrender licences that are no longer needed.
Where frequencies are in very limited supply, the ACMA seeks to ensure efficient use of spectrum by allocating channels to licensees with the greatest willingness to pay. If a tax is too low, licensees with more economically efficient uses may be excluded, while those with low-value uses are occupying channels.
The Determination sets out the different amounts of receiver licence tax that the ACMA has determined is payable by licensees of particular apparatus licences.
Operation
The Amendment Determination amends the taxing regime for radiocommunications receiver licences to adjust all taxes by a 3.05 percent adjustment based on the annual consumer price index (CPI) movement to June 2010. In real terms there is no effect on businesses, as the nominal dollar increases merely preserve the value of the licence taxes against erosion by inflation.
The only exception to the CPI increase is that the Amendment Determination also continues the freeze in dollar amounts of taxes levied on point to point and point to multi-point fixed wireless access services below 960 MHz in remote areas at their 2008 levels, pending a review.
Consultation
Subsection 18(1) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 provides that the nature of an instrument may be such that consultation may be unnecessary or inappropriate. The ACMA considers that it is unnecessary in this instance to consult on the amending instruments, in particular as CPI increases are routine and machinery in nature.
The formula the ACMA uses for calculating apparatus licence taxes has been in place since 1995 (it was updated in 2005) and the proposed instruments are merely applying the formula used for existing arrangements. Information about the CPI is freely available to the general public.
In addition, industry is aware of adjustments to apparatus fees to account for CPI increases. Such adjustments have been made by the SMA, ACA and the ACMA since 1995. Information is available from the ACMA website about apparatus licence fees including the statement that “All apparatus licence taxes are adjusted annually for changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), to compensate for the effects of inflation.”
In the special case of status quo taxes for point to point and point to multi-point fixed wireless access services below 960 MHz in remote areas, the ACMA considered it unnecessary to consult with stakeholders as there were no changes made affecting their licences.
Regulatory Impact
The Office of Best Practice and Regulation (OBPR) has considered the matter and formed the opinion that no regulatory impact analysis is required for the Amendment Determination. The OBPR reference number is ID12297.
Amendment Determination Details
Details of the Amendment Determination are provided at the Attachment.
ATTACHMENT
NOTES ON SECTIONS
Section 1 Name of Determination
Section 1 provides the name of the Amendment Determination.
Section 2 Commencement
Section 2 provides that the Amendment Determination commences on the day after it is registered.
Section 3 Amendment of Radiocommunications (Receiver Licence Tax) Determination 2003 (No. 2)
Section 3 provides that Schedule 1 of the Amendment Determination amends the Radiocommunications (Receiver Licence Tax) Determination 2003 (No. 2).
Schedule 1 Amendments
Item 1
Item 1 sets out the heading for the transitional Part of the Determination that deals with the new amendment. Section 4.1 of new Part 4 then sets out the relevant definitions.
By virtue of section 4.2, item 1 also substitutes new transitional arrangements. Although the Amendment Determination commences on the day after registration, in some instances where the tax is payable after this date, the amount of tax will continue to be based on the Radiocommunications (Receiver Licence Tax) Determination 2003 (No. 2) as in force immediately before the commencement of the Amendment Determination. The purpose of these transitional arrangements is to allow the amount of tax shown on renewal notices and instalment notices sent out prior to the commencement of the Amendment Determination, but payable after the commencement of the Amendment Determination, to continue to be valid.
Item 2
Item 2 substitutes a new table 202 (and accompanying note) which sets out the amount of tax for each kHz of bandwidth for the licensing options specified in Part 2 of Schedule 2. The amount of tax varies with frequency range and location of the spectrum access. All amounts have been raised by the adjustment of 3.05 percent.
Item 3
Item 3 substitutes a new table 302 (and accompanying note) which sets out the amount of tax for each kHz of bandwidth for the licensing options specified in Part 3 of Schedule 2. All amounts have been raised by the adjustment of 3.05 percent except for frequency bands below 960 MHz in remote density areas where the amount of tax remains set at the 2008 level.
Item 4
Item 4 sets out further amendments to specific amounts. These changes include substituting:
- each mention of $242 with $249 for subitem 203(1) in Part 2 of Schedule 2; and
- the amount of $33.86 with the amount of $34.91 (adjustment of 3.05 percent) for items 204 and 303 of Schedule 2 and step 3 of tables 103, 104 and 105 in Schedule 3.