{"id":"C2004A00529","name":"ACIS (Unearned Credit Liability) Act 1999","slug":"acis-unearned-credit-liability-act-1999","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"repealed","isInForce":false,"actNumber":"140 of 1999","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":436121,"registerId":"C2004A00529-fast-fetch-1775953399750","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"ACIS (Unearned Credit Liability) Act 1999","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\nACIS (Unearned Credit Liability) Act 1999\n\n \n\nNo. 140, 1999\n\n![](image.001.png)\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nACIS (Unearned Credit Liability) Act 1999\n\n \n\nNo. 140, 1999\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to impose an unearned credit liability in respect of unearned duty credit accrued under ACIS\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n1 Short title...................................\n\n2 Commencement...............................\n\n3 Definitions..................................\n\n4 Unearned credit liability on unearned duty credit under ACIS imposed             \n\n \n\n![](image.001.png)\n\nACIS (Unearned Credit Liability) Act 1999\n\nNo. 140, 1999\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to impose an unearned credit liability in respect of unearned duty credit accrued under ACIS\n\n[Assented to 3 November 1999]\n\nThe Parliament of Australia enacts:\n\n1  Short title\n\n  This Act may be cited as the ACIS (Unearned Credit Liability) Act 1999.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n  This Act commences on the commencement of the ACIS Administration Act 1999.\n\n3  Definitions\n\n (1) In this Act:\n\nAdministration Act means the ACIS Administration Act 1999.\n\n (2) Expressions used in this Act that are defined for the purposes of the Administration Act have the same meaning as in the Administration Act.\n\n4  Unearned credit liability on unearned duty credit under ACIS imposed\n\n  An amount of unearned credit liability that a participant is liable to pay under section 95 of the Administration Act is imposed.\n\n   \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n[Minister’s second reading speech made in—\n\nHouse of Representatives on 13 May 1999\n\nSenate on 30 June 1999]\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n(89/99)\n\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"_metrics":{"model":"kimi-k2.5","source":"moonshot-batch","completionTokens":1311},"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act remains tightly focused on its original narrow purpose of imposing the unearned credit liability mechanism for the ACIS scheme. It contains no substantive expansion beyond the technical imposition of liability referenced in the Administration Act."},"complexity_factors":["Only 4 sections total","No substantive definitions or operative rules within the Act itself - entirely dependent on the ACIS Administration Act 1999","Single mechanism: imposing liability by reference to external legislation (section 95)","No conditional logic, exceptions, or administrative procedures contained in this Act"],"plain_english_summary":"This Act creates a **financial liability** (essentially a debt) for automotive manufacturers and parts suppliers who received import duty credits under the government's Automotive Competitiveness and Investment Scheme (ACIS) but didn't actually qualify for them.\n\n**What it does:**\n- The Act is extremely short and technical. It relies entirely on the *ACIS Administration Act 1999* for all the detailed rules about who owes what and when.\n- It simply imposes a legal obligation to repay \"unearned duty credits\" — these are incentives (reductions on import duties) given to car companies that they turned out not to be entitled to, usually because they failed to meet production targets or investment commitments they had promised.\n- When the Administration Act determines that a company has received credits it didn't properly earn (under section 95 of that Act), this Act makes the debt officially enforceable as a liability.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Car makers and automotive component manufacturers who participated in the ACIS scheme between 2001 and 2005."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This Act does not broaden or narrow the classes of persons or credits described in the Administration Act. It simply enacts as law the unearned credit liability that a participant is liable to pay under section 95 of the Administration Act (s.4), uses the Administration Act’s definitions (s.3(2)), and commences when the Administration Act commences (s.2). There is no text in this Act that alters the scope established by the Administration Act."},"complexity_factors":["Single operative provision (s.4) — the Act does one thing: impose a liability.","Heavy reliance on cross-reference to the ACIS Administration Act 1999 (s.3(2)), so full effect requires reading external provisions (not self-contained).","No technical definitions or procedural rules in this Act; operational complexity is delegated elsewhere (calculation, assessment, enforcement likely in s.95 of the Administration Act).","Short text reduces statutory complexity but increases dependence on related instrument interpretation and administrative practice.","Legal effect is direct (imposes liability) but legal consequences depend on how the Administration Act defines terms and exercises discretion."],"plain_english_summary":"What this law does, in mechanical terms\n\n- The Act makes an \"unearned credit liability\" payable by an ACIS participant. It does this by imposing the amount that a participant is liable to pay under section 95 of the ACIS Administration Act 1999 (the Administration Act). (See s.4.)\n\nWho is affected and when it starts\n\n- The people or entities affected are ACIS participants as defined for the Administration Act. The Act says expressions used here that are defined in the Administration Act have the same meanings here. (See s.3(2).)\n- This Act begins to operate when the Administration Act begins. (See s.2.)\n\nHow it operates and where the details live\n\n- This Act contains a single operative provision: it imposes the liability referenced in the Administration Act. It does not itself define the technical rules for calculating the liability or the procedures for assessing and collecting it — those rules are in the Administration Act (including the specific provision cited, s.95). (See s.4 and s.3.)\n\nStated purpose and a practical reading of effects, incentives and costs\n\n- The statutory purpose stated in the long title is to impose an unearned credit liability in respect of unearned duty credit accrued under ACIS. The operative effect of the Act is to make that liability legally enforceable by enacting it into law (s.4).\n\n- Who pays: the participant who has unearned duty credit is the party legally required to pay the amount of unearned credit liability set out in s.95 of the Administration Act. (s.4 and s.3(2)).\n\n- Administrative and compliance burden: the Act itself does not set calculation, reporting or enforcement procedures. Those operational rules, and any discretion about assessment or recovery, are in the Administration Act. Therefore anyone assessing the actual compliance burden must consult s.95 and related provisions of the Administration Act. (s.3(2), s.4.)\n\n- Incentives and private decisions: mechanically, imposing a payable liability reduces the net value of any unearned duty credit to a participant. That change in net value will alter participants' incentives when they make commercial or administrative choices tied to accrual, retention or use of ACIS credits. The Act achieves this by declaring the liability enforceable; it does not itself set the precise measurement or timing of payments. (s.4.)\n\n- Trade-offs and opportunity costs: because the Act converts an accrued (but unearned) credit into a payable liability, participants forgo the ability to treat that credit as a freely available asset; instead they face a payment obligation specified by the Administration Act. The opportunity cost is the foregone use of the credit (the Act creates the legal obligation to pay rather than allowing the credit to remain uncharged). (s.4.)\n\n- Implementation risk and reliance on other instruments: the Act’s practical effect depends entirely on the content and operation of the Administration Act. Any uncertainty about how the liability is calculated, deferred, remitted or enforced is not resolved in this short Act; those matters are left to the Administration Act and its processes. (s.2, s.3(2), s.4.)\n\n- Who decides and where discretion lies: this Act delegates the technical definitions and the mechanics of liability to the Administration Act by reference. Administrative discretion regarding assessment or recovery therefore rests, if at all, in the Administration Act and instruments made under it rather than in this short statute. (s.3(2), s.4.)\n\nSummary: a narrowly focused legal step\n\n- In plain terms, this Act is a narrowly focused statute whose single job is to impose the payable liability for unearned ACIS duty credits by reference to the Administration Act. To understand calculation, enforcement, exemptions or procedural detail you must read s.95 and related provisions of the ACIS Administration Act 1999. (s.2, s.3(2), s.4.)"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/acis-unearned-credit-liability-act-1999","history":"/api/acts/acis-unearned-credit-liability-act-1999/history","analysis":"/api/acts/acis-unearned-credit-liability-act-1999/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/acis-unearned-credit-liability-act-1999/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/acis-unearned-credit-liability-act-1999/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/acis-unearned-credit-liability-act-1999/documents"}}