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Commonwealth act
This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.
What this law does, in mechanical terms
Who is affected and when it starts
How it operates and where the details live
Stated purpose and a practical reading of effects, incentives and costs
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).
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)).
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Direct links to the current provisions in ACIS (Unearned Credit Liability) Act 1999.
Zoe has indexed the source text for search and analysis. Use the official register for the original document and download formats.
View on official registerSourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.
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.)
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.)
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.)
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.)
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.)
Summary: a narrowly focused legal step