EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1984 NO. 421
ISSUED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE TREASURER
These regulations amending the Tobacco Charges Regulations will revise the existing scale of expenses for persons required to attend and give evidence before the Commissioner of Taxation in accordance with section 15 of the Tobacco Charges Assessment Act 1955 (the Act) and remove outdated references to addresses of offices of Deputy Commissioners of Taxation.
Regulation 1 facilitates references to the Tobacco Charges Regulations which are referred to as the “Principal Regulations”.
Regulation 2 will amend existing sub-regulation 3(2) which specifies that a reference in the regulations to the office of the Deputy Commissioner for a State is a reference to the address specified in the Schedule. By the amendment, such a reference will instead be to the office of a Deputy Commissioner exercising powers or performing functions in relation to the State. There will thus no longer be a need to specify an address for each Deputy Commissioner in the Schedule. The existing Schedule is being deleted by regulation 4.
Regulation 3 will repeal regulation 7 and substitute a new regulation 7 to prescribe a revised scale of expense entitlement for persons required to attend and give evidence under section 15 of the Act. By sub-regulation 7(1), the scale of fees will be that set out in the new Schedule which is being inserted by regulation 4. Paragraph 7(2)(a) provides that a reference to the Commissioner in the scale in the Schedule includes a reference to a person appointed by the Commissioner for the purposes of sub-section 15(1) of the Act, and paragraph 7(2)(b) makes it clear that a reference in the scale to the High Court Rules is a reference to those Rules as in force from time to time.
As mentioned in the notes to regulation 3, regulation 4 will repeal the existing Schedule (which contains the addresses of the offices of Deputy Commissioners) and replace it with a Schedule containing the Scale of Expenses to be allowed to persons attending before the Commissioner under section 15 of the Act.
By Items 1 and 2 of the scale, a person attending before the Commissioner is entitled to an amount in relation to expenses which is calculated by reference to relevant amounts specified in the High Court Rules. In addition to any amount to which the person may be entitled under Items 1 or 2, an expert witness is also entitled to a reasonable amount for qualifying to give that evidence - Item 3. Item 4 provides for the payment of reasonable amounts in respect of travelling expenses, meals and accommodation.