EXPLANATORY STATEMENT 1982 NO. 231
MINUTE NO 14 OF 1982 - MINISTER FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ENERGY
SUBJECT : SNOWY MOUNTAINS HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT)
In 1979 the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Power Act 1949 (the Act), was amended, inter alia, to bring its financial provisions into line with legislation applicable to other Commonwealth statutory authorities. At that time a new Section 30B, dealing with taxation of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Authority (the Authority) under Commonwealth, State and Territory laws, was incorporated into the Act.
Section 30B(2) states that, subject to sub-section (3), the Authority is not subject to taxation under a law of a State or of a Territory.
Section 30B(3) provides that the regulations may provide that Sub-section (2) does not apply in relation to a specified law of a State or of a Territory.
Although, the Authority had been specifically designated as one of the Commonwealth institutions which would become subject to State pay-roll tax on transfer of the relevant taxing function from the Commonwealth to the States in 1971, and had commenced to meet New South Wales State pay-roll tax from that time, advice has subsequently been received from the Department of Finance that amendment of the Act in 1979 avoids the need for it to continue to meet State pay-roll tax unless appropriate regulations are made. Amendment of the Regulations is required with retrospective application to validate payments which have been made by the Authority since 1979 and to provide authority for future pay-roll tax disbursements.