EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1984 NO. 414
ISSUED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE TREASURER
These regulations amending the Wool Tax (Administration) Regulations are consequential upon amendments to the Wool Tax (Administration) Act 1964 (the Act) by the Taxation Laws Amendment Act 1984 (the amending Act) which, inter alia, substantially increased the maximum level of court-imposed penalties for offences against taxation laws and enacted in the Taxation Administration Act 1953 consolidated offence and prosecution provisions in relation to the various taxation laws administered by the Commissioner of Taxation.
Regulation 1 facilitates references to the Wool Tax (Administration) Regulations which are referred to as the “Principal Regulations”.
Regulation 2 will repeal regulations 29, 30, 32, 33 and 34 which contain procedural rules that relate to prosecutions for offences under the Act. The repeal of these regulations is consequential upon the repeal of sections 61 and 74 of the Act and the enactment of consolidated offence and prosecution provisions relating to the various taxation laws in the Taxation Administration Act 1953.
Form 2 of the Second Schedule (Notice of Election by the Defendant to Have a Prosecution Tried in a Superior Court) will be omitted by regulation 3 in consequence of the repeal of section 74 of the Act by the amending Act.
Regulation 4 will increase from $40 to $500 the maximum penalties for specific offences against the Principal Regulations. The specific regulations being amended in this way are set out in the Schedule to these regulations.
By reason of section 8 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901, the Commissioner may continue to institute prosecutions under section 61 of the Act in relation to offences committed prior to the repeal of that section by the amending Act.
Paragraph 5(1)(a) contains transitional rules which will ensure that those regulations which apply to prosecutions under section 61 - regulations 29, 30 and 32 - may continue to apply notwithstanding their repeal by regulation 2. Similarly, regulations 33 and 34 and Form 2 of the Second Schedule may, by virtue of paragraph 5(1)(b), continue to apply in relation to an election by a defendant under repealed section 74 to have a case tried in the High Court or a Supreme Court.
Sub-regulation 5(2) provides that where the term “the Act” is used in the regulation, it is to be taken to mean the Wool Tax (Administration) Act 1964.