38Commissioner may collect tax from person owing money to taxpayer

38 Commissioner may collect tax from person owing money to taxpayer

(1) The Commissioner may, by notice in writing (a copy of which shall be forwarded to the taxpayer to the last place of address known to the Commissioner), require: (a) any person by whom any money is due or accruing or may become due to a taxpayer; (b) any person who holds or may subsequently hold money for or on account of a taxpayer; (c) any person who holds or may subsequently hold money on account of some other person for payment to a taxpayer; or (d) any person having authority from some other person to pay money to a taxpayer; to pay to the Commissioner, either forthwith upon the money becoming due or being held, or at or within a time specified in the notice (not being a time before the money becomes due or is held): (e) so much of the money as is sufficient to pay the amount due by the taxpayer in respect of tax or, if the amount of the money is equal to or less than the amount due by the taxpayer in respect of tax, the amount of the money; or (f) such amount as is specified in the notice out of each payment that the person so notified becomes liable from time to time to make to the taxpayer until the amount due by the taxpayer in respect of tax is satisfied. (2) Any person who refuses or fails to comply with any notice under this section shall be guilty of an offence.

Penalty: $1,000.

(3) Where a person (in this subsection referred to as the convicted person) is convicted before a court of an offence against subsection (2) in relation to the refusal or failure of the convicted person or another person to comply with a notice under this section, the court may, in addition to imposing a penalty on the convicted person, order the convicted person to pay to the Commissioner an amount not exceeding the amount that the convicted person or the other person, as the case may be, refused or failed to pay to the Commissioner in accordance with the notice. (4) Any person making any payment in pursuance of this section shall be deemed to have been acting under the authority of the taxpayer and of all other persons concerned and is hereby indemnified in respect of such payment. (5) If the amount due by the taxpayer in respect of tax, is paid before any payment is made under a notice given in pursuance of this section, the Commissioner shall forthwith give notice to the person of the payment. (6) Where: (a) money has been paid by a person to a building society in respect of the issue of withdrawable shares in the capital of the society; and (b) the money has not been repaid; the money shall be taken, for the purposes of this section: (c) in a case where the money is repayable on demand—to be due by the building society to the person; or (d) in any other case—to be money that may become due by the building society to the person. (7) Where, but for this subsection, money is not due, or repayable on demand, to a person unless a condition is fulfilled, the money shall be taken, for the purposes of this section, to be due, or repayable on demand, as the case may be, to the person notwithstanding that the condition has not been fulfilled. (8) In this section: