{"id":"C2004A00576","name":"Tradex Duty Imposition (Excise) Act 1999","slug":"tradex-duty-imposition-excise-act-1999","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"187 of 1999","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":24948,"registerId":"commonwealth-C2004A00576-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-01","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 Tradex Duty Imposition (Excise) Act 1999.","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commencement","content":"#### 2 Commencement\n\n  This Act commences on the day on which the Tradex Scheme Act 1999 commences.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"2A","sectionType":"section","heading":"Act does not extend to Norfolk Island","content":"#### 2A Act does not extend to Norfolk Island\n\n  This Act does not extend to Norfolk Island.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"3","sectionType":"section","heading":"Imposition of tradex duty","content":"#### 3 Imposition of tradex duty\n\n  (1) The tax known as tradex duty that is payable under section 21 of the Tradex Scheme Act 1999 is imposed by this section.\n  (2) This section imposes the tax known as tradex duty only so far as that tax is a duty of excise within the meaning of section 55 of the Constitution.","sortOrder":3},{"sectionNumber":"4","sectionType":"section","heading":"Amount of tradex duty","content":"#### 4 Amount of tradex duty\n\n  The amount of the tradex duty imposed by this Act in respect of any goods is an amount equal to the duty of customs under the Customs Tariff Act 1995 that would have been payable in respect of the goods upon their entry for home consumption if the goods had not been entered under item 21A of Schedule 4 to that Act.","sortOrder":4},{"sectionNumber":"5","sectionType":"section","heading":"Act does not impose tax on property of a State","content":"#### 5 Act does not impose 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  (2) In this section:\n\n> property of any kind belonging to a State has the same meaning as in section 114 of the Constitution.","sortOrder":5}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This legislation maintains its original narrow purpose as a constitutional support Act. It was always intended to be a brief, technical statute that formally imposes tradex duty as an excise to satisfy section 55 of the Constitution, while the substantive scheme operates under separate legislation. The scope has not expanded beyond this original technical function."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely short statute — only 5 operative sections","No defined terms beyond a single constitutional reference in section 5","Minimal conditional logic — essentially one trigger condition (failure to comply with Tradex Scheme)","Heavy reliance on external legislation (Tradex Scheme Act 1999, Customs Tariff Act 1995, Constitution) for substantive content","Single cross-reference structure — the Act serves purely as a constitutional mechanism to impose a tax already detailed elsewhere"],"plain_english_summary":"This law creates a special tax called \"tradex duty\" that applies in specific circumstances under Australia's Tradex Scheme. Here's what it does:\n\n**What is tradex duty?**\nIt's a backup tax that kicks in when goods brought into Australia under the Tradex Scheme don't follow the rules. The Tradex Scheme normally lets businesses import goods without paying customs duty, provided those goods are then exported (rather than sold in Australia). If someone breaks the rules and keeps the goods in Australia instead, this duty makes them pay what they would have owed.\n\n**How much is it?**\nThe amount equals whatever customs duty would have applied if the goods had entered Australia normally (not under the special Tradex arrangement).\n\n**Why does this exist as a separate law?**\nAustralia's Constitution has strict rules about how taxes must be passed. Section 55 says laws imposing taxes must only deal with taxation. This Act is a \"constitutional tidying\" measure — it formally imposes the duty as an \"excise\" (a tax on goods produced or manufactured in Australia) to satisfy constitutional requirements, even though the main rules sit in the Tradex Scheme Act 1999.\n\n**Who does it affect?**\nBusinesses using the Tradex Scheme who fail to export goods as promised. It also explicitly protects state governments — they don't have to pay this tax on their property.\n\n**Geographic note:** This law doesn't apply to Norfolk Island."},"summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act does exactly what its title suggests — it imposes tradex duty as an excise for constitutional compliance purposes. There is no evidence of scope creep or departure from original intent. It is a narrow, purpose-built constitutional mechanism with no broader application."},"complexity_factors":["Requires understanding of the broader Tradex Scheme Act 1999 to make sense of this Act in isolation","Constitutional law dimension — the Section 55 Constitution requirement for separate excise and customs Acts adds a layer of legal reasoning not obvious to laypeople","Cross-references to multiple other Acts (Tradex Scheme Act 1999, Customs Tariff Act 1995, and the Constitution)","The distinction between 'excise duty' and 'customs duty' is subtle and legally technical","Section 114 of the Constitution reference regarding State property requires further external knowledge","The Act itself is brief but largely meaningless without reading companion legislation"],"plain_english_summary":"The Tradex Duty Imposition (Excise) Act 1999 makes a business’s failure to use Tradex-imported goods for export into an excise tax: if those goods are kept in Australia instead of being exported, the importer must pay an amount equal to the customs duty that would have been payable on entry. It exists alongside a companion customs Act for constitutional completeness, and it exempts State property and Norfolk Island."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Based on the Act's text alone, the measure does not broaden tax scope beyond imposing a tradex duty equivalent to the applicable customs duty and limited by constitutional and statutory exceptions. It confines application geographically (no Norfolk Island) and substantively (no tax on State property) (see s2A, s3(2), s4, s5)."},"complexity_factors":["Cross-references to other laws: this Act relies on the Tradex Scheme Act 1999 (commencement link) and the Customs Tariff Act 1995 for the duty amount (s2, s4).","Constitutional limitation: tradex duty is imposed only insofar as it is a \"duty of excise\" under section 55 of the Constitution (s3(2)), which raises legal interpretation issues.","Exemptions and territorial limits: explicit non-extension to Norfolk Island (s2A) and an exemption for property belonging to a State, defined by reference to Constitution s114 (s5).","Operational dependency: calculation of payable duty depends on determining whether goods would have been entered under item 21A of Schedule 4 to the Customs Tariff Act 1995 (s4).","Low administrative complexity in text but possible downstream compliance complexity for importers and revenue officers when matching tradex entries to customs tariff outcomes (s4)."],"plain_english_summary":"This Act creates a tax called \"tradex duty\" on goods that mirrors the customs duty that would have applied if those goods were not entered under item 21A of Schedule 4 to the Customs Tariff Act 1995. It applies only to the extent tradex duty qualifies as an excise under the Constitution, does not extend to Norfolk Island, and does not tax property owned by a State."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/tradex-duty-imposition-excise-act-1999","history":"/api/acts/tradex-duty-imposition-excise-act-1999/history","analysis":"/api/acts/tradex-duty-imposition-excise-act-1999/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/tradex-duty-imposition-excise-act-1999/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/tradex-duty-imposition-excise-act-1999/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/tradex-duty-imposition-excise-act-1999/documents"}}