{"id":"C2004A03349","name":"Income Tax Act 1986","slug":"income-tax-act-1986","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"108 of 1986","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":7360,"registerId":"commonwealth-C2004A03349-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-03-30","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Short title","content":"#### 1 Short title\n\n  This Act may be cited as the Income Tax Act 1986.","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commencement","content":"#### 2 Commencement\n\n  This Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"3","sectionType":"section","heading":"Interpretation","content":"#### 3 Interpretation\n\n  (1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:\n\n> Assessment Act means the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936.\n\n> non‑profit company means:\n\n    (a) a company that is not carried on for the purposes of profit or gain to its individual members and is, by the terms of the company’s constituent document, prohibited from making any distribution, whether in money, property or otherwise, to its members; or\n    (b) a friendly society dispensary.\n\n> prescribed unit trust means a trust estate that is a public trading trust within the meaning of Division 6C of Part III of the Assessment Act.\n\n  (2) In this Act, a reference to taxable income shall be read as a reference to taxable income of the year of income.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"4","sectionType":"section","heading":"Incorporation","content":"#### 4 Incorporation\n\n  The Assessment Act is incorporated, and shall be read as one, with this Act.","sortOrder":3},{"sectionNumber":"5","sectionType":"section","heading":"Imposition of income tax","content":"#### 5 Imposition of income tax\n\n  (1) Income tax is imposed in accordance with this Act and at the relevant rates declared by the Income Tax Rates Act 1986.\n  (2) This Act does not impose tax payable in accordance with section 121H, 126, 128B, 128NA, 128NB or 128V of the Assessment Act.\n  (2A) This Act does not impose tax payable in accordance with section 301‑175 or 306‑15, or Division 840, of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 or Division 840 of the Income Tax (Transitional Provisions) Act 1997.\n  (3) This Act does not impose tax upon the taxable income of a non‑profit company where that taxable income does not exceed $416.\n  (4) If this Act, insofar as it imposes tax upon the taxable income of a complying superannuation fund, a non‑complying superannuation fund, a complying approved deposit fund, a non‑complying approved deposit fund or a pooled superannuation trust (as defined in the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997), would, apart from this subsection, deal with 2 subjects of taxation (within the meaning of section 55 of the Constitution), namely:\n    (a) the taxation of so much of the taxable income as is attributable to contributions that are included in assessable income under Subdivision 295‑C of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997; and\n    (b) the taxation of the remainder of the taxable income;\n  this Act imposes tax in respect of only that subject of taxation mentioned in paragraph (b).\n  (5) This Act does not impose tax upon the taxable income of a non‑complying superannuation fund within the meaning of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, to the extent that the taxable income is attributable to the inclusion of an amount in the fund’s assessable income under table item 2 in section 295‑320 of that Act.\n  (6) This Act does not impose tax upon the taxable income of a Australian superannuation fund, to the extent that the taxable income is attributable to the inclusion of an amount in the fund’s assessable income under table item 3 in section 295‑320 of that Act.","sortOrder":4},{"sectionNumber":"6","sectionType":"section","heading":"Adjustment where amount to be paid by, or refunded to, taxpayer would not exceed 49 cents","content":"#### 6 Adjustment where amount to be paid by, or refunded to, taxpayer would not exceed 49 cents\n\n  (1) This section applies for the purposes of the making of an assessment of tax (other than further tax payable under subsection 94(9), (11) or (12) of the Assessment Act) in respect of the income of a taxpayer of a year of income where, upon the making of the assessment and the serving of notice of the assessment upon the taxpayer, there would, but for this section, be a net amount of not more than 49 cents payable by the Commissioner to the taxpayer, or by the taxpayer to the Commissioner, under the law relating to income tax, after taking into account all liabilities of the taxpayer, and all rebates and credits allowable to the taxpayer, under that law.\n  (2) Where this section applies in relation to the making of an assessment:\n    (a) if the amount of not more than 49 cents would be an amount payable to the taxpayer—additional tax equal to that amount is imposed by this Act in respect of the income of the taxpayer of the year of income; and\n    (b) if the amount of not more than 49 cents would be an amount payable to the Commissioner—the amount that, but for this section, would be the amount of income tax imposed in respect of the income of the taxpayer of the year of income before the allowance of any rebates to which the taxpayer is entitled, is reduced by so much of that amount of not more than 49 cents as does not exceed the amount calculated by deducting the amount of any such rebates from the sum of the amount that is to be so reduced and any amount of further tax payable by the taxpayer in respect of that year of income under subsection 94(9), (11) or (12) of the Assessment Act.\n  (3) A reference in this section to a liability of the taxpayer shall be read as including a reference to a liability in respect of income tax or provisional tax notified to the taxpayer by the Commissioner, notwithstanding that the amount of the liability has not become due and payable.\n  (4) For the purposes of any calculation under the law relating to income tax that depends upon the amount of tax paid or payable by, or assessed in respect of the income of, a taxpayer, the tax assessed and payable under an assessment in relation to which this section applies shall be deemed to be the tax that would have been so assessed and payable if this section had not applied.","sortOrder":5},{"sectionNumber":"7","sectionType":"section","heading":"Levy of Tax","content":"#### 7 Levy of Tax\n\n  The tax imposed by subsection 5(1) is levied, and shall be paid, for the financial year commencing on 1 July 1986 and for all subsequent financial years until the Parliament otherwise provides.","sortOrder":6}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The original 1986 Act was a straightforward imposition of income tax with basic exemptions. Over time, it has accumulated significant complexity through amendments dealing with superannuation taxation (particularly the 1997 Assessment Act references), international tax (Division 840), and constitutional safeguards for superannuation funds. The original scope was simply 'impose income tax' — it has grown to become a highly conditional instrument managing multiple parallel tax systems (superannuation, international, trusts) with specific constitutional protections."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple cross-references to other Acts: Income Tax Assessment Act 1936, Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, Income Tax (Transitional Provisions) Act 1997, Income Tax Rates Act 1986, and the Constitution (section 55)","Nested conditional logic in section 5(4) with constitutional safeguards (section 55 of the Constitution requires laws imposing taxation to deal with only one subject of taxation)","Specific exclusions in subsections 5(2), (2A), (3), (5), and (6) that require tracking amendments across multiple years and Acts","Technical superannuation terminology requiring knowledge of 'complying' vs 'non-complying' funds, 'assessable income', and specific subdivision references (Subdivision 295-C, section 295-320)","Section 6 contains convoluted arithmetic adjustments for small amounts with multiple sub-calculations involving rebates, credits, and further tax liabilities","Only 3 defined terms in the interpretation section, but they reference complex concepts (public trading trusts, friendly society dispensaries)"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this legislation does**\n\nThis is the **Income Tax Act 1986** — one of the foundational laws that allows the Australian Government to collect income tax. It doesn't set the actual tax rates (that's done by a separate law, the *Income Tax Rates Act 1986*). Instead, this Act does four main things:\n\n- **Imposes** income tax — meaning it creates the legal authority to collect it\n- **Links** to the main tax rules — it incorporates the *Income Tax Assessment Act 1936* (the detailed rulebook for calculating what income is taxable) and says the two laws must be read together\n- **Carves out exceptions** — it specifies who doesn't have to pay, or what types of income aren't taxed under this particular law\n- **Handles tiny amounts** — it includes a practical rule that if someone owes less than 50 cents (or is owed less than 50 cents), the amount gets adjusted to zero rather than bothering with tiny payments\n\n**Who it affects**\n\n- **Everyone who pays income tax in Australia** — individuals, companies, and superannuation funds\n- **Specific groups** with special treatment:\n  - **Non-profit companies** (charities, community groups not run for profit) — pay no tax on the first $416 of taxable income\n  - **Superannuation funds** — complex rules apply about which parts of their income are taxed, with some amounts specifically excluded\n  - **Unit trusts** — certain public trading trusts are defined and treated specially\n\n**Why it matters**\n\nWithout this Act, the government couldn't legally collect income tax. It's the constitutional foundation that makes the whole tax system work. The 1986 version replaced earlier imposition acts and has been updated many times since to reflect changes in how superannuation works, how international income is treated, and other modern developments.\n\nThe \"49 cents\" rule in section 6 might seem trivial, but it saves millions of tiny transactions and administrative costs every year."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":6,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act sets out a framework for imposing and levying income tax, defines limited exemptions and technical rules, and incorporates the Assessment Act for substantive detail (ss 1–7). There is no text within this Act that narrows or expands its own stated mechanical functions beyond those explicit carve‑outs and technical provisions; therefore the Act’s scope as presented appears consistent with its operational purpose of imposing income tax and specifying a small number of exceptions and adjustments (ss 3–7)."},"complexity_factors":["Cross‑referencing to multiple other statutes (Income Tax Assessment Act 1936, Income Tax Rates Act 1986, Income Tax Assessment Act 1997) increases legal complexity (ss 3, 4, 5(1), 5(2A)).","Special carve‑outs and exclusions for particular sections and items require conditional application logic when assessing tax (s 5(2), (2A), (5)).","Defined technical exceptions (49‑cent assessment adjustment) contain multiple conditional branches and interaction rules with assessments and notices (s 6(1)–(4)).","Definitions that limit eligibility for relief (e.g. the narrow definition of “non‑profit company”) mean that small differences in entity form change tax treatment (s 3; s 5(3)).","Superannuation‑specific drafting to avoid two ‘subjects of taxation’ necessitates a two‑step attribution test and partial application of the Act (s 5(4)–(6)).","Incorporation clause requires simultaneous reading of two Acts as one legal instrument, increasing interpretive load (s 4)."],"plain_english_summary":"# What this law does, who it affects, and how it works\n\n- Mechanically, this Act creates a statutory framework for levying Australian income tax, links that framework to existing tax rules, and sets a few specific exceptions and technical rules.\n\n- Key mechanical changes and rules:\n  - The Act is titled the Income Tax Act 1986 and takes effect on the day it receives Royal Assent (ss 1–2).\n  - It incorporates the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 so that the two Acts are read together (s 4). Definitions used in this Act are set out in the Interpretation section (s 3).\n  - Income tax is imposed under this Act and at the rates declared by the Income Tax Rates Act 1986 (s 5(1)). The Act also specifies several classes of tax that it does not itself impose, pointing instead to provisions in the Assessment Act and later income tax legislation (s 5(2), (2A)).\n  - A small exemption for some non‑profit companies: where a non‑profit company’s taxable income does not exceed $416, this Act does not impose tax on that income (s 5(3); definition of “non‑profit company” at s 3).\n  - Special treatment for some superannuation vehicles so the Act addresses only one of two potential constitutional “subjects of taxation” in particular circumstances (s 5(4)–(6)). These subsections limit the Act’s application to specified parts of a fund’s taxable income to avoid duplicative taxation within this Act.\n  - A technical rounding/adjustment rule for trivial assessment amounts: if, after calculating liabilities and credits, the net amount payable by or to a taxpayer would be not more than 49 cents, the Commissioner’s assessment is adjusted instead of producing an actual payment/refund of that tiny amount. The section specifies different mechanical adjustments depending on whether the small amount would be payable to the taxpayer or to the Commissioner, and treats notified liabilities as part of the calculation (s 6(1)–(4)).\n  - The tax imposed by this Act is levied for the financial year commencing 1 July 1986 and for subsequent financial years until Parliament provides otherwise (s 7).\n\n- Who pays and who decides:\n  - The direct payers are taxpayers whose taxable income is assessed under this Act (s 5(1); s 7). The Commissioner of Taxation performs assessments and issues notices referenced in the adjustment/rounding rule (s 6(1)–(4)). Parliament decides the existence of the statute, its commencement, and (through the Income Tax Rates Act 1986) the rates that apply (ss 1–2, 5(1), 7).\n\n- Why this matters (stated purpose and operational effects):\n  - The Act is framed to (a) provide a statutory basis to impose income tax in combination with existing assessment rules (s 4 and s 5(1)); (b) avoid imposing duplicate or excluded taxes by referencing other tax provisions (s 5(2), (2A)); and (c) simplify micro‑payments and administrative overhead on trivial assessment amounts through the 49‑cent adjustment rule (s 6).\n\n- Practical costs, incentives and trade‑offs implied by the text:\n  - Compliance and administrative layering: because the Assessment Act is incorporated (s 4) and the Act cross‑refers to other tax statutes (s 5(1), (2A)), practitioners and taxpayers must read multiple Acts together to determine liabilities, increasing legal and administrative complexity.\n  - Concentrated and limited relief: the $416 exemption applies only to entities that meet the Act’s definition of “non‑profit company” (s 3; s 5(3)). This produces a clearly delimited benefit to qualifying entities but does not change the broader tax base described by the Act.\n  - Technical precision to avoid fractional flows: the 49‑cent rule removes the need for very small refunds or payments and prescribes how an assessment should be adjusted instead (s 6). The rule also preserves the legal effect of an assessment for other calculations by deeming the tax assessed to be the amount that would have applied if the rule had not operated (s 6(4)).\n  - Reliance on external definitions and provisions: the Act refers to the Income Tax Rates Act 1986 for rates (s 5(1)), to definitions and divisions in the Assessment Act (s 3, s 4), and to particular items in later income tax legislation (s 5(2A)). That cross‑referencing centralises policy decisions elsewhere but raises the transaction cost of determining tax outcomes because multiple instruments must be consulted.\n\n- Implementation and discretion points:\n  - The Commissioner is the operative official for assessments and notices that trigger the 49‑cent adjustment (s 6(1)–(3)). Those provisions give the Commissioner a role in identifying and notifying liabilities that feed into the mechanical rounding rule.\n  - The Act itself creates several carve‑outs (particular sections and items excluded from this Act’s imposition of tax, s 5(2), (2A)) and special‑purpose rules for superannuation funds (s 5(4)–(6)); in practice those carve‑outs require administrators to apply conditional tests and cross‑legislation rules when assessing tax.\n\n- Net effect on private choice and markets: the Act establishes taxation as a legal obligation for taxpayers generally (s 5(1); s 7), leaves rate‑setting to a separate statute (s 5(1)), and grants narrowly defined reliefs and technical adjustments (s 5(3); s 6). The text itself does not alter commercial contract freedom or ownership rules; it defines where and how tax liability is to be calculated and adjusted and delegates substantial definitional and rate detail to other statutes (s 3, s 4, s 5(1))."},"summary":{"complexity_score":6,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The Act's original 1986 scope was a straightforward income tax imposition mechanism referencing primarily the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936. Over time, substantial amendments were added to accommodate the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, superannuation fund restructuring, and specific carve-outs (subsections 2A, 5, and 6) that were not part of the original design. The core purpose — imposing income tax — remains unchanged, but the scope has expanded to address increasingly complex superannuation and withholding tax exclusions that reflect major reforms to the broader tax system since 1986."},"complexity_factors":["Cross-references multiple other Acts (Income Tax Assessment Act 1936, Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, Income Tax Rates Act 1986, Income Tax (Transitional Provisions) Act 1997) — you cannot understand this Act in isolation","Constitutional dimension: subsection 5(4) directly references section 55 of the Australian Constitution, dealing with the rule that one Act cannot impose tax on two distinct subjects — requires constitutional law knowledge to fully grasp","Superannuation provisions involve multiple fund types (complying/non-complying superannuation funds, approved deposit funds, pooled superannuation trusts) with different treatment, requiring familiarity with superannuation law","The 49-cent adjustment mechanism in section 6 involves layered calculations referencing rebates, credits, further tax, and provisional tax simultaneously","References to specific numbered sections (e.g., s121H, s126, s128B, s295-320) of other Acts that must be located and read to understand what is excluded","Transitional provisions referenced across two different versions of the Assessment Act (1936 and 1997) reflect decades of legislative evolution that a reader must trace"],"plain_english_summary":"## Income Tax Act 1986\n\n### What is this law?\nThis is a short but foundational piece of legislation that **formally imposes income tax** in Australia. Think of it as the legal 'switch' that turns on the government's power to collect income tax — it doesn't set the rates or detailed rules itself, but it authorises the collection of income tax and links to other laws that do the heavy lifting.\n\n### Who does it affect?\nEssentially **every Australian taxpayer** — individuals, companies, superannuation funds, and trusts. However, it carves out some specific exceptions:\n\n- **Non-profit companies** (companies that can't distribute profits to members) with a taxable income of $416 or less pay **no tax** under this Act\n- **Certain superannuation funds** (retirement savings vehicles) have specific portions of their income excluded from tax under this Act, particularly income from certain types of contributions\n- **Certain withholding taxes** (taxes automatically deducted at the source of a payment, like on dividends paid to foreign investors) are **not** imposed by this Act — they're handled separately\n\n### The 49-cent rule\nThere's a practical rounding provision: if after calculating everything, the amount either owed to you or owed by you is **49 cents or less**, the tax is adjusted so no tiny payment needs to change hands. The government won't chase you for 30 cents, and won't send you a cheque for 20 cents.\n\n### The ongoing levy\nIncome tax has been continuously levied since **1 July 1986** under this Act, and continues until Parliament decides otherwise.\n\n### Why does it matter?\nWithout this Act, the government technically couldn't collect income tax — it's the constitutional and legal foundation that makes the whole income tax system operate. It works together with the *Income Tax Assessment Act 1936*, the *Income Tax Assessment Act 1997*, and the *Income Tax Rates Act 1986*."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/income-tax-act-1986","history":"/api/acts/income-tax-act-1986/history","analysis":"/api/acts/income-tax-act-1986/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/income-tax-act-1986/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/income-tax-act-1986/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/income-tax-act-1986/documents"}}