EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULE NO. 281 ISSUED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS
Section 9 of the Radiocommunications (Transmitter Licence Tax) Act 1983 (‘the Act’) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of section 7 of the Act.
Amongst other things, section 7 provides that the amount of tax in respect of the grant of a transmitter licence is such amount as is ascertained in accordance with the regulations.
The regulations amend the Radiocommunications (Transmitter Licence Tax) Regulations by changing the rates of tax applicable to transmitter licences in accordance with Government decisions made in the Budget context. The regulations also make certain changes to the structure and form of transmitter licensing. Detail of those changes are provided below in comments on the individual amendments.
Regulation 1 - Commencement
The regulations are to come into operation on 1 October 1986.
Regulation 2 - Principal Regulations
Regulation 2 provides that in the regulations, ‘Principal Regulations’ means the Radiocommunications (Transmitter Licence Tax) Regulations.
Regulation 3 - Interpretation
Regulation 3 amends regulation 2 of the Principal Regulations by omitting the current three exterior paging services and substituting four new categories of exterior paging service. The object of this amendment is to provide a greater concession to regional exterior paging service operators for the use of supplementary transmitters.
Regulation 3 also defines ‘transmission path’, an expression used in the Principal Regulations in relation to the tax payable in respect of the grant of licences for fixed stations, classes B, C, D and E.
Regulation 4 - Tax in respect of grant of transmitter licence - certain fixed stations
Regulation 4 repeals regulation 4 of the Principal Regulations and substitutes a new regulation 4. The substituted regulation simplifies the method of calculating tax in respect of the grant of fixed station, class C licences.
Regulation 5 - Schedule
Regulation 5 repeals the Schedule to the Principal Regulations and substitutes a new Schedule.
The substituted Schedule specifies new rates of tax for transmitter licences in accordance with the Government’s budget decision. It also includes a number of new categories of receiver licence which have been created under the related amendments of the Radiocommunications (Licensing and General) Regulations. These are items 27 to 30 ‘exterior paging services’, items 35 to 38 ‘fixed stations, Class C’, items 68 and 69 ‘radiodetermination stations’ and item 72 ‘passive repeater station’.