30Collection agency must charge levy interest on unpaid levy amount

30 Collection agency must charge levy interest on unpaid levy amount

(1) A collection agency must require a person to pay levy interest on any levy amount—

(a) which that person is liable to pay; and

(b) which has not been paid by the date specified under section 26 for payment; and

(c) if the leviable land is rateable land, the person is required to pay interest on rates that are payable in respect of that land.

(2) The levy interest—

(a) is to be calculated at the rate fixed under section 2 of the Penalty Interest Rates Act 1983 that applied on the first day of July immediately before the due date for the payment; and

(b) becomes payable—

(i) if the payment was payable in instalments only, on and from the date on which the missed instalment was due; or

(ii) if the payment was payable either in instalments or in a lump sum and the first instalment was paid by the date it was due, on and from the date on which the relevant subsequent missed instalment was due; or

(iii) if the payment was payable either in instalments or in a lump sum, and neither the first instalment nor the lump sum were paid by the dates the first instalment or the lump sum were due, on and from the date on which each missed instalment of levy became due; and

(c) continues to be payable until the payment or recovery of the levy.

(3) If a collection agency obtains a court order requiring the payment of the levy amount payable, levy interest continues to accrue under this section until the payment or recovery of the levy amount.

(4) A collection agency may waive levy interest accrued under subsection (3).

(5) A collection agency may—

(a) if the land is leviable land that is rateable land, exempt any person from paying the whole or part of any levy interest generally or specifically if the collection agency is also exempting the person from paying the whole or part any interest owed in respect of rates on that land;

(b) if the land is non-rateable leviable land which is classified residential for land use classification purposes, exempt any person from paying the whole or part of any levy interest generally or specifically.

(6) A collection agency may recover levy interest due to it on a levy amount in the same way as it may recover the levy amount.