{"id":"C2005A00002","name":"A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax Imposition (Recipients)—Excise) Act 2005","slug":"a-new-tax-system-goods-and-services-tax-imposition-recipients-excise-act-2005","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"2 of 2005","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":7831,"registerId":"commonwealth-C2005A00002-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-03-30","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax Imposition (Recipients)—Excise) Act 2005","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![](image.001.png)\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nA New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax Imposition (Recipients)—Excise) Act 2005\n\n \n\nNo. 2, 2005\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to implement A New Tax System by imposing the tax payable under the GST law, so far as that tax is imposed on recipients of taxable supplies and is a duty of excise\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n1 Short title\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Imposition\n\n4 Rate\n\n5 Act does not impose a tax on property of a State\n\n![](image.001.png)\n\n \n\n \n\nA New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax Imposition (Recipients)—Excise) Act 2005\n\nNo. 2, 2005\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to implement A New Tax System by imposing the tax payable under the GST law, so far as that tax is imposed on recipients of taxable supplies and is a duty of excise\n\n[Assented to 18 February 2005]\n\nThe Parliament of Australia enacts:\n\n1  Short title\n\n  This Act may be cited as the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax Imposition (Recipients)—Excise) Act 2005.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n  This Act commences on 1 July 2005.\n\n3  Imposition\n\n (1) The tax that is payable under the GST law is imposed by this section under the name of goods and services tax (GST).\n\n (2) This section imposes GST only so far as that tax:\n\n (a) would be imposed on the recipient of a taxable supply; and\n\n (b) is a duty of excise within the meaning of section 55 of the Constitution.\n\n (3) In this section, GST law, recipient and taxable supply have the same meaning as in the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999.\n\n4  Rate\n\n  The rate of goods and services tax payable under the GST law (within the meaning of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999) is 10%.\n\n5  Act does not impose a tax on property of a State\n\n (1) This Act does not impose a tax on property of any kind belonging to a State.\n\n (2) Property of any kind belonging to a State has the same meaning as in section 114 of the Constitution.\n\n \n\n \n\n[Minister’s second reading speech made in—\n\nHouse of Representatives on 8 December 2004\n\nSenate on 9 December 2004]\n\n(252/04)\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This legislation remains tightly focused on its original constitutional purpose. It was enacted in 2005 as part of the 'New Tax System' reforms to ensure GST could validly apply as a duty of excise when imposed on recipients. The Act has not expanded beyond this narrow technical function — it contains no substantive tax rules, administration provisions, or policy mechanisms, serving purely as an imposition mechanism for constitutional validity."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely short: only 5 sections spanning approximately 1 page","No defined terms section — all key terms ('GST law', 'recipient', 'taxable supply') are imported by reference from the main GST Act (A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999)","Minimal conditional logic: only one substantive condition in section 3(2) requiring both (a) recipient liability and (b) duty of excise character","Single cross-reference: only refers to one other Act for definitions and the Constitution for the 'duty of excise' and State property concepts","No exceptions, exemptions, or regulatory powers within the Act itself"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a short, technical law that does one specific job: it officially imposes (creates) the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in situations where the tax is considered a 'duty of excise' under the Australian Constitution.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Imposes GST on recipients of taxable supplies** — normally, businesses charge GST to customers and pay it to the government. But in some cases, the recipient (the buyer) is responsible for paying the GST directly. This law makes sure that GST counts as a constitutional 'duty of excise' in those situations.\n- **Sets the rate at 10%** — confirming the standard GST rate.\n- **Protects State property** — explicitly says this tax doesn't apply to property belonging to a State government (required by section 114 of the Constitution).\n\n**Why it exists:**\nThe Australian Constitution has strict rules about what taxes the federal government can impose. A 'duty of excise' is a tax on goods produced or manufactured in Australia, and the Constitution says only the federal government can impose these. This law is a 'constitutional safety net' — it ensures that even when GST is paid by recipients rather than suppliers, it's still valid as a federal excise duty.\n\n**Who it affects:**\nMost people and businesses won't deal with this law directly. It mainly matters for:\n- **Large businesses** making certain types of purchases where 'reverse charging' applies (the buyer pays GST directly)\n- **Constitutional lawyers** ensuring GST remains legally valid\n- **The Australian Taxation Office** when enforcing GST collection in complex transactions"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act is narrowly drafted to implement a particular constitutional route for imposing GST on recipients of taxable supplies that are duties of excise. It does not add unrelated subjects or broaden the GST framework beyond that targeted purpose. The drafting relies on the existing GST Act 1999 for definitions and procedures, so its scope is consistent with the original, implementing intent rather than expanding it."},"complexity_factors":["Very short text (5 substantive sections)","Only a few defined terms referenced; relies on cross-reference to the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 for key definitions (s 3(3))","Single rate specified (10%) with no tiering or conditional rates (s 4)","Single substantive limitation tied to a constitutional concept (\"duty of excise\" under s 55 of the Constitution referenced in s 3(2))","Explicit exclusion for State property relying on constitutional definition (s 5 referencing s 114)","Low number of cross-references overall, but constitutional interpretation risk increases practical complexity"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this Act does (in plain English)**\n\n- This very short law imposes the goods and services tax (GST) only in a narrow circumstance: where the GST that would otherwise apply is a \"duty of excise\" and would be imposed on the recipient (the buyer) of a taxable supply (s 3).  The GST rate for those supplies is fixed at 10% (s 4).  The Act expressly excludes any tax on property that belongs to an Australian State (s 5).\n\n**Who is affected**\n\n- Recipients (buyers) of taxable supplies that are also duties of excise.  Suppliers may be affected as a practical matter (they may need to change invoicing or contractual arrangements), but the legal imposition in this Act is on recipients (s 3(2)).\n- State governments are protected: the Act does not impose a tax on State property (s 5).\n\n**How it works mechanically**\n\n- The Act creates an obligation called \"goods and services tax (GST)\" and says it applies only to the extent the GST would be imposed on the recipient and the charge is a duty of excise (s 3(1)–(2)).\n- The definitions of \"GST law\", \"recipient\" and \"taxable supply\" are not re-defined here; the Act points back to the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 for those meanings (s 3(3)).\n- The rate for that GST is 10% (s 4).\n- The Act excludes taxing State property, using the same meaning of \"property of any kind belonging to a State\" as in section 114 of the Constitution (s 5).\n\n**Why this matters (purpose claim and practical effects)**\n\n- The stated purpose is to ensure the GST regime captures supplies that are duties of excise but where the legal imposition falls on the recipient rather than the supplier.  Mechanically, the Act narrows the constitutional footing for taxing excise-like supplies by specifying that GST will be imposed only where it is properly characterised as a duty of excise imposed on recipients (s 3(2)).\n\n**Costs, incentives, trade-offs and implementation issues**\n\n- Who pays: legally the recipient is the person on whom this Act imposes the GST (s 3). In practice suppliers may collect the tax under the broader GST law, and contracting arrangements may shift who bears the economic cost.\n- Administrative interface: the Act delegates substantive definitions and many collection rules to the GST Act 1999 (s 3(3)). That keeps this Act short but means interpretation depends on reading two instruments together.\n- Constitutional uncertainty: because the imposition is limited to instances that are \"a duty of excise\" (s 3(2)), the scope depends on constitutional law (the meaning of \"excise\"), which is shaped by High Court decisions. That creates interpretive risk and potential litigation over whether particular supplies are excise duties.\n- Compliance and business effects: businesses selling goods or services that could be characterised as excise-taxable to recipients must review invoicing, contracts and tax treatment to allocate legal liability and to ensure GST reporting is correct. The additional compliance burden is limited by the Act's narrow subject matter but may be non-trivial for affected sectors.\n- Distribution of benefits and costs: the Act concentrates legal liability on recipients of a specific class of supplies; costs are therefore concentrated on those recipients and the businesses they transact with. The broader GST architecture (input credits, registration thresholds, collection rules) will determine how the economic incidence is spread.\n\n**Net operational picture**\n\n- This Act is a narrowly focused statutory instrument that ties a 10% GST to supplies that qualify as excise duties and where the tax is imposed on recipients, while leaving definitional and procedural detail to the main GST Act (see s 3(3)). It also preserves the constitutional protection for State property (s 5)."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/a-new-tax-system-goods-and-services-tax-imposition-recipients-excise-act-2005","history":"/api/acts/a-new-tax-system-goods-and-services-tax-imposition-recipients-excise-act-2005/history","analysis":"/api/acts/a-new-tax-system-goods-and-services-tax-imposition-recipients-excise-act-2005/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/a-new-tax-system-goods-and-services-tax-imposition-recipients-excise-act-2005/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/a-new-tax-system-goods-and-services-tax-imposition-recipients-excise-act-2005/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/a-new-tax-system-goods-and-services-tax-imposition-recipients-excise-act-2005/documents"}}