Commonwealth act

Customs Tariff (Exchange Adjustment) Validation Act 1939

RepealedCTH

This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.

Jurisdiction

Commonwealth

Act Number

77 of 1939

Collection

act

Plain English Summary

2/10 complexity

What this Act does

This Act validates changes to import taxes (customs duties) that were adjusted to account for currency exchange rate fluctuations in late 1939.

Why it matters When the government proposed new exchange rate adjustments to customs duties in December 1939, there may have been legal uncertainty about whether these changes were properly authorised. This Act removes that doubt by confirming the adjustments were lawfully made, ensuring that any taxes already collected—or still to be collected—under these new rates are legally valid.

Who it affects

Importers who paid duties calculated under the December 1939 exchange adjustments
The Commonwealth government, by securing its revenue position and preventing potential refund claims

Key effect Any alterations to customs duties made on or before 6 June 1940 under the December 1939 proposals are retroactively validated, meaning they are deemed to have been lawful from the start.

JSON API

Deep dive

Want the full deep dive?

Zoe can write the in-depth analysis on top of the summary above: how it works, who it affects and what each part actually does.

Current sections

Direct links to the current provisions in Customs Tariff (Exchange Adjustment) Validation Act 1939.

Customs Tariff (Exchange Adjustment) Validation Act 1939

CUSTOMS TARIFF (EXCHANGE ADJUSTMENT) VALIDATION.

No. 77 of 1939.

An Act to provide for the Validation of Adjustments in Duties of Customs under Customs Tariff (Exchange Adjustment) Proposals.

[Assented to 15th December, 1939.]

BE it enacted by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows:—

Short title.

This Act may be cited as the Customs Tariff (Exchange Adjustment) Validation Act 1939.

Commencement.

This Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.

Validation of alterations in variations of duty.

Any alteration in the variations of duties of Customs provided for by the Customs Tariff (Exchange Adjustment) Act 1933–1939 made on or before the sixth day of June, One thousand nine hundred and forty in accordance with the Customs Tariff (Exchange Adjustment) proposals introduced into the House of Representatives on the sixth day of December, One thousand nine hundred and thirty-nine, shall be deemed to have been lawfully made and all duties of Customs
demanded or collected in accordance with those variations as so altered shall be deemed to have been lawfully imposed and lawfully demanded or collected.

Source text

Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.

1 Customs Tariff (Exchange Adjustment) Validation Act 1939