{"id":"C2004A05337","name":"Commonwealth Places Windfall Tax (Imposition) Act 1998","slug":"commonwealth-places-windfall-tax-imposition-act-1998","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"26 of 1998","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":7822,"registerId":"commonwealth-C2004A05337-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-03-30","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commonwealth Places Windfall Tax (Imposition) Act 1998","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\ntitle: Cth Places Windfall Tax (Imposition) 1998\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\nCommonwealth Places Windfall Tax (Imposition) Act 1998\n\n \n\nNo. 26, 1998\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n![](image.002.png)\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nCommonwealth Places Windfall Tax (Imposition) Act 1998\n\n \n\nNo. 26, 1998\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to impose Commonwealth places windfall tax, and for related purposes\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n1 Short title..................................1\n\n2 Commencement..............................1\n\n3 This Act binds the Crown.........................2\n\n4 Imposition of Commonwealth places windfall tax...........2\n\n \n\n![](image.003.png)\n\nCommonwealth Places Windfall Tax (Imposition) Act 1998\n\nNo. 26, 1998\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to impose Commonwealth places windfall tax, and for related purposes\n\n[Assented to 17 April 1998]\n\nThe Parliament of Australia enacts:\n\n \n\n1  Short title\n\n  This Act may be cited as the Commonwealth Places Windfall Tax (Imposition) Act 1998.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n  This Act is taken to have commenced at the same time as the Commonwealth Places Windfall Tax (Collection) Act 1998.\n\n3  This Act binds the Crown\n\n  This Act binds the Crown in each of its capacities.\n\n4  Imposition of Commonwealth places windfall tax\n\n (1) Commonwealth places windfall tax is hereby imposed at the rate of 100%.\n\n (2) In this section:\n\nCommonwealth places windfall tax means the tax that is payable under the Commonwealth Places Windfall Tax (Collection) Act 1998.\n\n \n\n \n\n[Minister's second reading speech made in—\n\nHouse of Representatives on 5 March 1998\n\nSenate on 23 March 1998]\n\n \n\n(13/98)\n\n\n \n\n \n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This legislation remains tightly scoped to its original purpose. It was always intended as a brief imposition statute to support the Collection Act, and has not expanded beyond that narrow technical role."},"complexity_factors":["Only 4 sections total, with 1 substantive provision (section 4)","Single defined term ('Commonwealth places windfall tax') which merely cross-refers to another Act","No conditional logic, exceptions, or nested provisions","No regulations or delegated legislative powers","Extremely narrow purpose: imposition of a specific tax at a fixed rate","Heavy reliance on companion legislation for substantive operation"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a very short law that creates a special one-off tax called the 'Commonwealth places windfall tax'. \n\n**What it does:**\n- **Imposes a 100% tax** on certain windfall gains (unexpected profits) made in 'Commonwealth places' — these are areas like airports, defence bases, or other land owned by the federal government where state laws don't normally apply.\n- The tax only applies to gains that became taxable due to a 1997 High Court decision (*Allders International Pty Ltd v Commissioner of State Revenue (Victoria)*) which changed how tax laws applied to these federal areas.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Businesses or individuals who made unexpected tax savings or profits because of that High Court decision.\n\n**Why it matters:**\n- This law was designed to **claw back** (recover) tax benefits that people unexpectedly received. Without this law, some taxpayers would have kept windfall gains that weren't intended by Parliament. The tax is collected under a separate law (the *Commonwealth Places Windfall Tax (Collection) Act 1998*).\n\n**Key point:** This Act is purely about **imposing** the tax — setting it at 100% and making it legally binding. The rules about who pays, when, and how are in the companion Collection Act."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This Imposition Act is narrowly focused: it merely sets the rate at 100% and declares that it binds the Crown, while leaving definitions, liability rules and collection mechanisms to the Collection Act. It does not broaden the substantive scope beyond what the companion Collection Act establishes; rather, it operationalises that Act by fixing the tax rate and commencement timing."},"complexity_factors":["Very short: 4 sections only (Short title, Commencement, Crown binding, Imposition)","Single substantive operative provision (section 4) imposing the tax rate","One defined phrase within the Act: 'Commonwealth places windfall tax' (section 4(2))","Direct cross‑reference dependency on another Act (Commonwealth Places Windfall Tax (Collection) Act 1998) for all substantive definitions and collection mechanics","Simple commencement link (treated as commenced with the Collection Act)","No nested exceptions, no schedules, no multiple rates or tiers, no procedural detail in this instrument"],"plain_english_summary":"This Act simply fixes the Commonwealth places windfall tax rate at 100% and confirms it binds the Crown. It does not define who pays, what counts as a windfall, or how the tax is collected — those rules are in the Commonwealth Places Windfall Tax (Collection) Act 1998.\n\nBecause the rate captures the full defined gain, it eliminates private after‑tax benefit from taxable events and strongly incentives avoidance, restructuring, challenges to the taxable base, and reliance on exemptions or refunds in the Collection Act."},"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/commonwealth-places-windfall-tax-imposition-act-1998","history":"/api/acts/commonwealth-places-windfall-tax-imposition-act-1998/history","analysis":"/api/acts/commonwealth-places-windfall-tax-imposition-act-1998/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/commonwealth-places-windfall-tax-imposition-act-1998/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/commonwealth-places-windfall-tax-imposition-act-1998/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/commonwealth-places-windfall-tax-imposition-act-1998/documents"}}