Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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TAXATION ADMINISTRATION REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1994 NO. 55

STATUTORY RULES 1994 No. 55

ISSUED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE TREASURER

Taxation Administration Act 1953

Taxation Administration Regulations (Amendment)

These regulations will amend the Taxation Administration Regulations (the Regulations) as a consequence of an amendment made to the Taxation Administration Act 1953 (the Act) by the Taxation Laws Amendment (Self Assessment) Act 1992 (the Self Assessment Act).

The Self Assessment Act introduced, among other things, a scheme of binding private rulings under which a person is able to apply to the Commissioner of Taxation for a private riding about how the tax laws apply to a particular arrangement in a year of income. The Commissioner makes a private ruling, under subsection 14ZAR(1) of the Act, by preparing a written notice of the ruling and serving it on the applicant. Regulation 18A of the regulations, introduced by Statutory Rides 1992 No. 317, prescribes the manner in which such a notice may be served on an applicant.

The provisions introduced by the Self Assessment Act also provide that the Commissioner may, in some circumstances, withdraw the whole or part of a private ruling. Section 14ZAV of the Act provides for such a withdrawal to be effected by the Commissioner serving a written notice of the withdrawal on the applicant for the ruling.

The amendment being made by the proposed regulations extends the operation of regulation 18A to the service of a notice of withdrawal of a private ruling. Subregulation 18A(1) will now provide that a notice of a private ruling, or a notice of the withdrawal of a private ruling, may be served on a person by delivering it to the person or by leaving it at, or posting it to, the person's address for service of the ruling.

A person's address for service is either the address nominated in the application for private ruling as the address for service (existing paragraph 18A(2)(a)), or an address nominated by the person in some other way (existing paragraph 18A(2)(b)).

Subregulation 18A(3) refers, in its present form, to "a document relating to a private riding", and so is capable of applying without amendment to a notice of withdrawal of a private ruling. Subregulation 18A(3) provides that such a document sent by prepaid post shall be taken to have been served on the recipient at the time it would have been delivered in the ordinary course of the post, unless proved otherwise. This provision has effect in situations in which the time of service of the notice is important, such as in determining deadlines or calculating penalties.