Taxation Administration Act 1996

This Act is the Taxation Administration Act 1996.

This Act commences on a day or days to be appointed by proclamation.

In this Act—

assessment means an assessment made by the Chief Commissioner under Part 3 of the tax liability of a person under a taxation law, and includes—

a reassessment and a compromise assessment under Part 3, and

an assessment by the Supreme Court or the Civil and Administrative Tribunal on an application for a review.

authorised officer means a person who is an authorised officer under section 68.

Chief Commissioner means the Chief Commissioner referred to in section 60.

Commissioner means the Commissioner referred to in section 64.

exercise a function includes perform a duty.

function includes a power, authority or duty.

Hardship Review Board means the Hardship Review Board constituted under the State Debt Recovery Act 2018.

investigation means an investigation under Division 2 of Part 9.

premises includes land, a vehicle, a vessel and an aircraft.

recognised revenue law has the meaning given by section 80A.

record means—

a documentary record, or

a record made by an electronic, electromagnetic, photographic or optical process, or

any other kind of record.

return means a return, statement, application, report or other record that—

is required or authorised under a taxation law to be lodged by a person with the Chief Commissioner or a specified person, and

is liable to tax or records matters in respect of which there is or may be a tax liability.

review means a review by the Supreme Court, or an administrative review by the Civil and Administrative Tribunal, on an application made under Division 2 of Part 10.

tax means a tax, duty, contribution or levy under a taxation law, and includes—

interest and penalty tax under Part 5, and

a penalty under section 106KA, and

any other amount paid or payable by a taxpayer to the Chief Commissioner under a taxation law.

tax debt—see section 44.

taxation law has the meaning given by section 4.

Note.

See also section 5 (Application of Act to State tax-equivalent regime).

tax default means a failure by a taxpayer to pay, in accordance with a taxation law, the whole or part of tax that the taxpayer is liable to pay.

tax officer means—

the Chief Commissioner, or

the Commissioner, or

an authorised officer, or

any other person engaged (whether as an officer or employee or otherwise) in the administration or enforcement of a taxation law.

taxpayer means a person who has been assessed as liable to pay an amount of tax, who has paid an amount as tax or who is liable or may be liable to pay tax.

this jurisdiction means New South Wales.

trustee includes—

a person who is a trustee under an implied or constructive trust, and

in relation to a deceased person—an executor of the will, or an administrator of the estate, of the deceased person, and

a receiver or manager of the property of a company, or a liquidator of a company for the purpose of its winding up, and

a receiver, guardian, committee or manager of the property of a person under a legal or other disability, and

a person having possession, control or management of a business or property of a person who is under a legal or other disability, and

any person acting in a fiduciary capacity.

Note.

The Interpretation Act 1987 contains definitions and other provisions that affect the interpretation and application of this Act.

Notes in the text of this Act do not form part of the Act.

The following are taxation laws for the purposes of this Act—

this Act

Betting Tax Act 2001

Duties Act 1997

Emergency Services Levy Act 2017

Gaming Machine Tax Act 2001

Health Insurance Levies Act 1982

Insurance Protection Tax Act 2001

Land Tax Act 1956

Land Tax Management Act 1956

Parking Space Levy Act 2009

Payroll Tax Act 2007

Payroll Tax Deferral (BlueScope Steel) Act 2015

Property Tax (First Home Buyer Choice) Act 2022

a regulation under any of those Acts.

Note.

The Fire and Emergency Services Levy Act 2017 applies parts of this Act to the levy payable under that Act if the responsibility for levy recovery is transferred to the Chief Commissioner or if the Chief Commissioner requires a waived amount of the levy to be repaid.

The Fire and Emergency Services Levy Act 2017 also applies parts of this Act to the collection instalments payable by a council under that Act as if those instalments were a tax.

In addition, some of the provisions of this Act apply to the contributions payable by councils under the following—

Part 5 of the Fire and Rescue NSW Act 1989,

Part 5 of the Rural Fires Act 1997,

Part 5A of the State Emergency Service Act 1989.

For the purpose of the administration and enforcement of a relevant tax-equivalent regime, the provisions of section 5.3 of the Government Sector Finance Act 2018, and any other provisions of that Act or directions or regulations under that Act, insofar as they relate to the relevant tax-equivalent regime, are taken to be a taxation law.

To avoid doubt, amounts payable as tax-equivalents under a relevant tax-equivalent regime in accordance with section 5.3 of the Government Sector Finance Act 2018 are taxes for the purposes of this Act.

Part 10 (Objections and reviews) does not apply in respect of an assessment of liability under a relevant tax-equivalent regime under section 5.3 of the Government Sector Finance Act 2018.

In this section—

relevant tax-equivalent regime has the meaning as in section 5.3 of the Government Sector Finance Act 2018.

For the purpose of the administration and enforcement of the scheme for the levying and payment of the community development levy under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983, Division 4A of Part 2 of that Act and any regulations made under that Division, are taken to be a taxation law.

To avoid doubt, amounts payable for the community development levy under that Act are taxes for the purposes of this Act (other than Part 4).

For the purpose of the administration and enforcement of legislative schemes for the payment of royalties to the Crown, the following provisions are taken to be taxation laws—

Part 14 of the Mining Act 1992,

Divisions 2 and 3 of Part 4.4 of the Offshore Minerals Act 1999,

the provisions of Division 7 of Part 4 of the Petroleum (Offshore) Act 1982 to the extent that those provisions relate to royalties under that Act,

Part 7 of the Petroleum (Onshore) Act 1991,

any other provisions of the Acts referred to in paragraphs (a)–(d), or of the regulations under those Acts, to the extent that they relate to royalties.

Royalty is taken to be a tax for the purposes of this Act.

In this section—

royalty means royalty payable under—

the Mining Act 1992, or

the Offshore Minerals Act 1999, or

the Petroleum (Offshore) Act 1982, or

the Petroleum (Onshore) Act 1991.

For the purpose of the administration and enforcement of the scheme for the levying and payment of the passenger service levy under the Point to Point Transport (Taxis and Hire Vehicles) Act 2016, Schedule 4 to that Act and any regulations made under that Schedule, are taken to be taxation laws.

To avoid doubt, amounts payable for the passenger service levy under that Act are taxes for the purposes of this Act (other than Division 2 of Part 7).

This Act binds the Crown in right of this jurisdiction and, in so far as the legislative power of the Legislature of this jurisdiction permits, the Crown in all its other capacities.

This section does not affect the liability of the Crown to tax under another taxation law.

The purpose of this Act is to make general provision with respect to the administration and enforcement of the other taxation laws.

The other taxation laws include provisions with respect to—

the imposition of tax and its payment, and

exceptions to and exemptions from liability to the tax, and

entitlements to refunds.

This Act includes general provisions with respect to—

assessment and reassessment of tax liability, and

obtaining refunds of tax, and

imposition of interest and penalty tax, and

approval of special tax return arrangements, and

collection of tax, and

record keeping obligations of taxpayers and general offences, and

tax officers and their investigative powers and secrecy obligations, and

objections and reviews, and

tax avoidance schemes, and

the prohibition on the use of confidential tax information, and

miscellaneous matters such as service of documents, corporate criminal liability and evidence.

The Chief Commissioner may make an assessment of the tax liability of a taxpayer.

An assessment of a tax liability may consist of a determination that there is not a particular tax liability.

For the avoidance of doubt, an assessment of tax liability is taken to have been made when the Chief Commissioner calculates the tax liability of a taxpayer based on a return under the Payroll Tax Act 2007 or any other Act prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this subsection (whether or not the Chief Commissioner issues a notice of assessment as a result of that calculation or otherwise notifies the taxpayer of the calculation).

The Chief Commissioner may make one or more reassessments of a tax liability of a taxpayer.

A reassessment of a tax liability is to be made in accordance with the legal interpretations and assessment practices generally applied by the Chief Commissioner in relation to matters of that kind at the time the tax liability arose except to the extent that any departure from those interpretations and practices is required by a change in the law (whether legislative or non-legislative) made after that time.

The Chief Commissioner cannot make a reassessment of a tax liability more than 5 years after the initial assessment of the liability, unless—

the reassessment is to adjust tax to give effect to a decision on an objection or review as to an assessment, or

at the time the initial assessment or a reassessment was made, all the facts and circumstances affecting the liability under the relevant taxation law of the person in respect of whom the assessment or reassessment was made were not fully and truly disclosed to the Chief Commissioner and, as a result, the tax liability was assessed at a lower amount, or

the reassessment is authorised to be made more than 5 years after the initial assessment by another taxation law, or

the reassessment is made as a consequence of an application by a taxpayer, being an application made within 5 years after the initial assessment of the liability, and the reassessment reduces the tax liability.

The initial assessment of a tax liability remains the initial assessment of the liability for the purposes of this Act even if it is withdrawn under section 13.