State Grants Commission Act 1976

In this section,Minister means the Minister responsible for the administration of the National Taxation Reform (Commonwealth-State Relations) Act 1999.

On receipt of a direction by the Minister as mentioned in section 3(2)(c) in respect of a council, the Commission must – appoint an auditor for the purposes of – investigating and reporting on any failure by the council to comply with the GST law in any financial year or years; and in the event of any such failure, determining any liability of the council arising from that failure; and having regard to a report received under paragraph (a), in the event of any such failure recommend to the Treasurer the amount of any unpaid goods and services tax that should be withheld from a grant under this Act, which amount is to be equal to the difference between the amount of that tax actually paid and the amount that, in the auditor's opinion, should have been paid by the council; and provide to the Minister a copy of the recommendation given to the Treasurer.

On receipt of a recommendation by the Commission under this section, the Treasurer must ensure that – a grant to a council under this Act is reduced in accordance with the recommendation; and the amount specified in the recommendation is paid to the Australian Taxation Office as goods and services tax.

A grant may be withheld or reduced under this section whether or not the failure to comply with the GST law by a council relates to the financial year in which the grant is payable.