FSAF minutes, June 2008

5. Greenhouse Challenge program

Chris Mobbs provided a presentation on the Greenhouse Challenge program.

Chris Mobbs advised that funding for the Greenhouse Challenge Plus program (GCP) will cease on 30 June 2009. There are approximately 770 businesses who are currently members of the program, of which 128 claim fuel tax credits.

The Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA) has commenced discussions with the Tax Office, Treasury and Climate Change to determine the most appropriate course of action for replacing membership of the GCP with another arrangement. One option is that businesses wanting to claim fuel tax credits will need to be registered under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007. It is likely that most of the GCP businesses currently claiming fuel tax credits will need to report under the Act.

DEWHA expects to be in a position in July-August to advise GCP members about the arrangements for winding down the program and the future arrangements for claiming fuel tax credits.

Member concerns

Members raised concerns with the closure of the GCP. Members are concerned about:

The high cost of compliance for future members who will need to join the program due to new entitlements associated with the expansion when the program is being closed.
The lead time required to allow existing clients to prepare themselves for the requirements under any new scheme and the need for any new arrangements to be announced as soon as possible.

Action item	AIO40608/5 - DEWHA to notify FSAF of communications to GCP members of the closure.
Responsibility	DEWHA
Due date:	July/August

Action item

AIO40608/6- DEWHA to provide an update on progress at next meeting on the replacement arrangements.

Responsibility

DEWHA

Due date:

Next FSAF meeting

Sections within Agenda items

Last Modified: Wednesday, 27 June 2012