EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
RADIOCOMMUNICATIONS (TRANSMITTER LICENCE TAX) REGULATIONS STATUTORY RULE NO 273 OF 1987
ISSUED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE MINISTER FOR LAND TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURE SUPPORT
Section 9 of the Radiocommunications (Transmitter Licence Tax) Act 1983 (“the Act”) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations prescribing the amount of tax payable in respect of the grant of radiocommunications transmitter licences pursuant to section 24 of the Radiocommunications Act 1983. Section 7 of the Act provides that the amount of tax payable in respect of the grant of such a licence is an amount ascertained in accordance with the regulations.
Radiocommunications transmitter licences are divided into numerous classes under the Radiocommunications (Licensing and General) Regulations made pursuant to the Radiocommunications Act 1983.
The regulations increase the amounts of tax payable in respect of the grant of radiocommunications transmitter licences in line with inflation, in accordance with decisions made by the Government in the Budget context. The Radiocommunications (Licensing and General) Regulations have been amended concurrently to rationalise the classes of licences that may be granted and to promote more efficient use of the spectrum. The regulations prescribe amounts of tax payable for the new classes of licence. Some classes of licence authorising operation in geographical’ areas or parts of the spectrum where demands on the available spectrum are heavy have been increased by a percentage greater than the rate of inflation, in order to promote more efficient use of the spectrum by discouraging inessential use.
The regulations will commence on 1 December 1987.