Notes for the Treasurer's Second Reading Speech
I have explained previously to Honourable Members, when introducing the Land Tax Abolition Bill 1952 and the Land Tax Abolition Bill 1953, that it has become necessary to provide for the continued administration of all existing taxation Acts.
The latter Bill, which I have just introduced, removes all land tax Acts from the Statute Book. These Acts provided for the offices of the Commissioner and Second Commissioner of Taxation, and the Taxation Valuation Boards.
It has, therefore, become necessary to provide statutory authority for the continuance of these offices. It has been considered advisable not to do this in some Act which deals with a particular subject of taxation, as was the case with land tax, but to make specific provision therefor in a separate Act. This is the purpose of the present Bill.
The Bill provides for the offices of Commissioner and Second Commissioner of Taxation. It repeats the provisions that previously appeared in the Land Tax Assessment Act regarding their tenure of office and the salaries to be paid to them. There is also provision for the removal of an occupant of an office by the Governor-General on the advice of Parliament.
There is also provision for the appointment of an Acting Commissioner or an Acting Second Commissioner in the event of the illness, absence or suspension of the Commissioner or Second Commissioner.
All these provisions largely follow the provisions at present appearing in the Land Tax Assessment Act, except for certain drafting improvements for the purpose of bringing the actual wording of the clauses and sub-clauses into line with modern drafting practice. The original provisions were drafted in 1910.
One of the improvements adopted is to provide in this Bill for delegations of his powers by the Commissioner of Taxation, instead of leaving this power of delegation in the separate Acts which are administered by the Commissioner of Taxation.
The present occupants of the offices of Commissioner of Taxation and Second Commissioner of Taxation were appointed by the Governor-General for terms of seven years under the powers granted by the Land Tax Assessment Act; these terms not having expired, the Bill provides that the Commissioner and Second Commissioner holding office immediately before the commencement of the Taxation Administration Act shall be deemed to have been appointed as Commissioner of Taxation and Second Commissioner of Taxation under that Act and shall hold office thereunder for the remainder of their respective terms.
The Bill also provides for the offices of Deputy Commissioners of Taxation which, at present, are provided for in the separate taxation Acts administered by the Commissioner of Taxation.
Valuation Boards were originally set up as appeals tribunals for the settlement of disputes regarding the value of land for land tax purposes. With the subsequent enactment of estate duty and gift duty, the Boards have been required to settle disputes as to real estate values, share values and the like for the purposes of those Acts. In addition, the Chairman, for some years, has heard all hardship cases involving sums in excess of Pd500 as required by section 265 of the Income Tax and Social Services Contribution Assessment Act in lieu of the Chairman of the Income Tax Board of Review. The Chairman of the Boards is the only full-time member thereof and his time is fully occupied in his Board duties, together with the other duties mentioned. The other members of the Boards are engaged part-time only and are solely concerned with valuation appeals; they are paid at a daily rate for the actual days on which they are so engaged. It might be mentioned that it is expected that these Boards will be very busy for some considerable time in hearing land tax appeals in respect of valuations of land as at 30th June, 1951, the last year to which land tax applied.
It is, therefore, necessary to provide for the continuation of the Valuation Boards and this is provided for in the Bill. It also provides for the continuation in office under this Bill of the persons who were appointed under the Land Tax Assessment Act and whose periods have not expired.
The removal of the powers of delegation of the Commissioner from the separate taxation Acts to this Act and the provision of the offices of Deputy Commissioner of Taxation under this Act require the consequential amendment of a number of other Acts. These Acts are listed in the first column of the First Schedule to the Bill and the amendments to be made are set out in the second column. The amendments of these Acts will, of course, necessitate the provision of new citations therefor. This is provided for in the Second Schedule to the Bill.
I commend the Bill to Honourable Members.