44th Parliament Opens with Carbon Tax Repeal Bills Introduction

As previously reported by TimeBase, the 44th Commonwealth Parliament of Australia has opened its first official sitting week by introducing 11 separate bills regarding the repeal of the Carbon Tax.

The Clean Energy Legislation (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013 (the Main Repeal Bill) repeals the legislation that establishes the carbon pricing mechanism, namely:

• Clean Energy Act 2011;
• Clean Energy (Charges—Customs) Act 2011;
• Clean Energy (Charges—Excise) Act 2011;
• Clean Energy (Unit Issue Charge—Auctions) Act 2011;
• Clean Energy (Unit Issue Charge—Fixed Charge) Act 2011; and
• Clean Energy (Unit Shortfall Charge—General) Act 2011

In addition, four technical bills provide for removal of the equivalent carbon price through excise and excise equivalent custom duties and the SGG levies. The abolition of other carbon tax-related initiatives are to be done by other Bills that are not part of the Carbon Tax Repeal Bills, namely:

• the abolition of the Climate Change Authority (CCA) through the Climate Change Authority (Abolition) Bill 2013;
• the abolition of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation through the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (Abolition) Bill 2013; and
• the cancellation of carbon tax related income tax cuts that were legislated to commence on 1 July 2015 through the Clean Energy (Income Tax Rates and Other Amendments) Bill 2013.

The Carbon Tax Repeal Bills, included in this Explanatory Memorandum, provide, in summary, that:

• 2013-14 will be the last financial year that the carbon tax will apply, even if the Parliament does not pass the Carbon Tax Repeal Bills until after 1 July 2014;
• liable businesses and other entities must meet all carbon tax liabilities incurred up to 30 June 2014 under the carbon pricing mechanism, the fuel tax credit system, excise or excise equivalent customs duties, or SGG levies;
• liable businesses and other entities must pay their final carbon tax compliance obligations at the next payment time under the current legislated arrangements;
• industry assistance provided under the Jobs & Competitiveness Program (JCP) and the Energy Security Fund will continue in 2013-14 for the purpose of meeting carbon tax liabilities, and will then cease;
• the ACCC will have new powers to monitor prices and take action against businesses that attempt to exploit other businesses and consumers by charging unreasonably high prices or making false or misleading claims about the effect of the carbon tax repeal on prices;
• the Steel Transformation Plan Act 2011, which provided carbon tax related assistance to steel industry businesses, will be repealed and the assistance will cease;
• the funding for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) will be adjusted;
• the conservation tillage tax offset, which was introduced at the same time as the carbon tax, will be removed; and
• businesses and other entities with a carbon tax liability are obliged to comply with current carbon tax compliance and reporting arrangements for as long as those arrangements remain law.

The Clean Energy Regulator, the Australian Taxation Office, the Australian Customs & Border Protection Service and the Department of the Environment will have the necessary powers to collect any outstanding carbon tax liabilities for 2012-13 and 2013-14 for as long as is necessary. Businesses and other entities are obliged to comply with legislated obligations for as long as those obligations remain law.

 The bills have just been introduced into the House of Representatives and are awaiting second reading with the exact names as follows:

• Clean Energy Legislation (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013
• Clean Energy Finance Corporation (Abolition) Bill 2013
• Clean Energy (Income Tax Rates and Other Amendments) Bill 2013
• Customs Tariff Amendment (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013
• Excise Tariff Amendment (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013
• Minerals Resource Rent Tax Repeal and Other Measures Bill 2013
• Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas (Manufacture Levy) Amendment (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013
• Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas (Import Levy) Amendment (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013
• Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas (Import Levy) (Transitional Provisions) Bill 2013
• True-up Shortfall Levy (Excise) (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013
• True-up Shortfall Levy (General) (Carbon Tax Repeal) Bill 2013

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