(1) In these Regulations, unless the contrary intention appears:
Board of Review means a Board of Review constituted under the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 or that Act as amended at any time.
Liquidator means the person who, whether or not appointed as liquidator, is the person required by law to carry out the winding-up of a company.
public officer means a public officer of a company for the purposes of a Sales Tax Assessment Act.
registered means registered under any Sales Tax Assessment Act.
Second Commissioner means a Second Commissioner of Taxation holding office under the Taxation Administration Act 1953-1968.
taxpayer means a person chargeable with sales tax.
the Act means the Sales Tax Procedure Act 1934.
Part II Returns
5 Place for furnishing return
Returns shall be furnished to the Commissioner at the office of the Deputy Commissioner for the State in which the taxpayer is registered.
7 When return deemed to be furnished
A return shall not be deemed to have been duly furnished to the Commissioner unless and until the proper form, duly signed, in accordance with these Regulations, containing a full, true and complete statement of all matters and things required by the Act and these Regulations, the Commissioner, and the form itself, to be stated therein, has, at the place where under these Regulations the return is to be furnished, been received by an officer authorized by the Commissioner to receive returns.
8 Auctioneers’ returns
(1) Every auctioneer who sells, on behalf of a registered person who has not given notice in writing to the auctioneer in accordance with subregulation (3) of this regulation, any goods on the sale value of which tax is payable shall, within seven days after the date of the sale, furnish a return and pay tax, in respect of the sale, to the Deputy Commissioner for the State in which the goods are so sold.
(2) A return under the last preceding subregulation shall be in accordance with a form authorized by the Commissioner and shall contain such information as is required for the due completion of the form.
(3) Where it is the intention of a registered person to furnish returns and pay tax on the sale value of all goods which may be sold on his behalf by an auctioneer he shall give notice in writing of that intention:
(a) to the auctioneer; and
(b) to the Commissioner at the office of the Deputy Commissioner for the State in which the auctioneer ordinarily conducts his sales.
(4) This regulation shall come into operation on the fourteenth day of January One thousand nine hundred and thirty-five.
9 Persons to take necessary steps for due lodging
Whenever a person is required by the Act, the Regulations, or the Commissioner, to furnish a return to the Commissioner, it shall be the duty of that person to make the required return and to take all steps necessary to ensure that the return is received by the Commissioner at the place where under these Regulations the return is to be furnished.
10 Annotations on returns
(1) The Commissioner may cause or permit his officers to make on any return such marks, figures and annotations as he thinks fit.
(2) The marks, figures and annotations shall be made in ink which is different in colour from the ink used in the return and, except in the case of a date stamp, shall be initialled by the officer making them.
11 Department to obtain information and evidence
(1) The Commissioner may, by notice in writing, require any person, whether a taxpayer or not:
(a) to furnish him with such information as he requires; or
(b) to attend and give evidence before him or before any officer authorized by him in that behalf;
for the purpose of inquiring into or ascertaining his or any other person’s liability under the Act or these Regulations, and may require him to produce all books, documents and other papers whatsoever in his custody or under his control relating thereto.
(2) The Commissioner may require the information or evidence to be given on oath, and either verbally or in writing, and for that purpose he or the officer so authorized by him may administer an oath.
12 Persons to take necessary steps to furnish information
Whenever pursuant to regulation 11 of these Regulations a person is required by the Commissioner to furnish the Commissioner with any information, that person:
(a) shall take all steps necessary to ensure that the information so required to be furnished is received by the Commissioner at the place at which the requirement is made; and
(b) shall be deemed not to have furnished the Commissioner with such information unless and until such information has been received by the Commissioner at the place at which the requirement is made.
Part III Proceedings for recovery of tax and penalties
15 Evidentiary certificates
In an action against a person for the recovery of tax, a certificate signed by the Commissioner certifying that:
(a) the person named in the certificate is liable to pay tax; and
(b) an assessment of tax payable by the person was made against the person; and
(c) the particulars of the assessment are as stated in the certificate;
(d) notice of the assessment was served on the person; and
(e) the amount referred to in the certificate is, at the date of the certificate, a debt in respect of tax due by the person to the Commonwealth;
is, in the absence of contrary evidence, sufficient evidence of the facts stated in the certificate.
16 Substituted service
If, in any proceedings against a taxpayer for the recovery of tax or additional tax, the defendant:
(a) is absent from Australia and has not to the knowledge of the Commissioner after reasonable inquiry in that behalf any attorney or agent in Australia on whom service of process can be effected; or
(b) cannot after reasonable inquiry be found;
service of any process in the proceedings may, without leave of the Court, be effected on him by posting the same or a sealed copy thereof in a letter addressed to him at his last known place of business or abode in Australia.
17 Evidence by affidavit
In an action for the recovery of tax:
(a) a person may give evidence by affidavit; and
(b) the court may require the person to attend before it:
(i) to be cross-examined on the evidence; or
(ii) to give other evidence in relation to the action.
19 Certificate of offical copies
A writing certified by the Commissioner, a Second Commissioner or a Deputy Commissioner to be a true copy of or a true extract from any assessment, return, list, declaration, statement, book, document or writing of any nature whatsoever in the custody of the Commissioner or of any officer of the Commissioner shall for all purposes be prima facie evidence of the original of or from which it purports to be a copy or extract, and shall be receivable in evidence to the same extent as the original.
Part IV Miscellaneous
22 Signature by or for taxpayers
(1) Every return, notice or other communication required by the Act or these Regulations to be made or forwarded to or furnished to the Commissioner shall be signed:
(a) in the case of an individual so required — in the name of that individual;
(b) in the case of a partnership so required — in the name of the senior active partner resident in Australia;
(c) in the case of trustees so required — in the name of the senior active trustee resident in Australia, or where there is no trustee resident in Australia, in the name of the agent in Australia for the trustees; and
(d) in the case of a company — in the name of the public officer of the company.
(2) Subject to the next succeeding subregulation, the documents specified in the last preceding subregulation shall be signed personally by the person in whose name they are required to be signed.
(3) Where it is not possible or practicable for the person specified in the last preceding subregulation personally to sign documents required to be signed in his name, or where, on account of special circumstances, the Commissioner, upon the application of any such person, so permits, the person who is required to make, forward or furnish that document, or the directors of a company which is so required, may authorize, in writing, another person to sign the documents in the name of the person so specified, before his own signature as a person so authorized.
(4) Upon the authorization of any person to sign documents in pursuance of the last preceding subregulation, the person by whom the authorization is given shall forthwith forward written notice of the authorization to the Deputy Commissioner at the office to which the documents are required to be forwarded, and shall furnish the Deputy Commissioner with a specimen signature of the person so authorized and with particulars of his name and of the capacity in which he acts in the business of the person by whom the authorization is given.
(5) The Commissioner may, at any time, if he thinks fit, disapprove of the authorization of any person to sign documents in pursuance of subregulation (3) of this regulation, and direct that documents signed by that person under such authorization shall not be accepted.
(6) Every document signed in accordance with these Regulations in the name of the person in whose name it is required by this regulation to be signed shall be deemed to have been signed by that person.
(7) Notice of the cancellation of the authorization of any person under this regulation shall be given to the Deputy Commissioner to whom notice of the authorization was notified.
(8) Any person who, except in accordance with these Regulations, (proof of which accordance shall lie upon the person charged):
(a) authorizes, permits, suffers or procures to be signed otherwise than in his own name and by himself personally, or to be used unsigned; or
(b) is party or privy to, or is directly or indirectly concerned in, the signing otherwise than in his own name and by himself personally, or the use unsigned, of;
any document required by these Regulations to be signed either in his own name and by himself personally, or in his own name before the signature of some other person, shall be guilty of an offence punishable upon conviction by a fine not exceeding $500.
(9) Any person who, except in accordance with these Regulations (proof of which accordance shall lie upon the person charged), signs, or purports to sign, either in his own name, or in any other name, or uses unsigned, any document required by these Regulations to be signed personally by, or in the name of, some other person, shall be guilty of an offence punishable upon conviction by a fine not exceeding $500.
23 Official signatures
Any notice to be given by the Commissioner may be given by any officer duly authorized by the Commissioner in that behalf, and any notice purporting to be signed by the authority of the Commissioner shall be as valid and effectual for all purposes as if signed by the Commissioner in person.
24 Presumption as to signatures
(1) Judicial notice shall be taken of the names and signatures of the persons who are, or were at any time, the Commissioner, a Second Commissioner or a Deputy Commissioner.
(2) A certificate, notice or other document bearing the written, printed or stamped name (including a facsimile of the signature) of a person who is, or was at any time, the Commissioner, a Second Commissioner or a Deputy Commissioner in lieu of that person’s signature shall, unless it is proved that the document was issued without authority, be deemed to have been duly signed by that person.
25 Address for service
Every person who furnishes a return shall in the return give an address in Australia for service.
26 Notice of change of address
Every person who has given an address for service and who subsequently changes that address shall, within one month after changing that address, give to the Commissioner, at the place where he furnished the return in which the address was given, notice in writing of his new address in Australia for service.
27 Address deemed to be last known place of business or abode
The address for service last given to the Commissioner by, and received by the Commissioner from, any person shall, for all purposes under the Act and these Regulations, be deemed to be the last known place of business or abode of that person in Australia, but where no address for service has been given to and received by the Commissioner, the address of the person as described in any record in the custody of the Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner shall be deemed to be the last known place of business or abode of that person in Australia.
28 Failure to notify change of address
Any person who changes his address for service and fails to give to the Commissioner notice of his new address in Australia for service shall not be permitted to plead that change of address as a defence in any proceedings (whether civil or criminal) instituted against him under the Act or these Regulations.
29 Service of notices etc
(1) Any notice or other communication by or on behalf of the Commissioner may be served upon any person by posting it, by prepaid letter post addressed to the person at his last known place of business or abode in Australia, and service thereof shall be deemed to have been effected at the time when it would in the ordinary course of post have arrived at the place to which it was addressed or at the post town or post office nearest to that place, whether or not it has in fact been received by the addressee.
(2) Service of any document at the address for service or on the public officer of a company shall be sufficient service upon the company for all the purposes of the Act or the Regulations, and if at any time there is no public officer then service upon any person acting or appearing to act in the business of the company shall be sufficient.
30 Public officers of companies
(1) The public officer of a company shall be answerable for the doing of all such things as are required to be done by the company under the Act or the Regulations and in case of default shall be liable to the same penalties.
(2) Everything done by the public officer which he is required to do in his representative capacity shall be deemed to have been done by the company. The absence or non-appointment of a public officer shall not exclude the company from the necessity of complying with any of the provisions of the Act or the Regulations or from the penalties provided by the Act or the Regulations on the failure to comply therewith, but the company shall be liable to the provisions of the Act and the Regulations as if there were no requirement to appoint a public officer.
(3) In any proceedings under the Act or the Regulations taken against the public officer of the company the proceedings shall be deemed to have been taken against the company, and the company shall be liable for any penalty imposed upon the public officer.
(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in this regulation and without in any way limiting, altering or transferring the liability of the public officer of a company, every notice, process or proceeding which under the Act or the Regulations may be given to, served upon or taken against the company or its public officer may, if the Commissioner thinks fit, be given to, served upon or taken against any director, secretary or other officer of the company or any attorney or agent of the company.
31 Agents and trustees
(1) With respect to every agent and with respect also to every trustee, the following provisions shall apply:
(a) He shall be answerable for the doing of all such things as are required to be done by virtue of the Act or these Regulations in respect of any transaction, act or operation entered into or done by him as agent or trustee in relation to any goods to which the Act or the Regulations or any one or more of the Sales Tax Assessment Acts apply;
(b) He shall, in respect of any such transaction, act or operation, make the returns and be chargeable with tax, but in his representative capacity only, and each return shall, except as otherwise provided by the Act or the Regulations, be separate and distinct from any other;
(c) If he is an executor or administrator, the returns shall be the same, as far as practicable, as the deceased person, if living, would have been liable to make;
(d) Where as agent or trustee he pays tax, he is hereby authorized to recover the amount so paid from the person in whose behalf he paid it, or to deduct it from any money in his hands belonging to that person;
(e) He is hereby authorized and required to retain from time to time out of any money which comes to him in his representative capacity so much as is sufficient to pay the tax which is or will become due in respect of any such transaction, act or operation;
(f) He is hereby made personally liable for such tax if, after the Commissioner has required him to make a return, or while the tax remains unpaid, he disposes of or parts with any fund or money which comes to him from or out of which tax could legally be paid, but he shall not be otherwise personally liable for the tax;
Provided that the Commissioner may, upon application by the agent, permit disposal of such fund or money or part thereof as he considers necessary;
(g) He is hereby indemnified for all payments which he makes in pursuance of the Act or these Regulations or by the requirements of the Commissioner;
(h) For the purposes of insuring the payment of tax the Commissioner shall have the same remedies against attachable property of any kind vested in or under the control or management or in the possession of any agent or trustee, as he would have against the property of any other taxpayer in respect of tax, and in as full and ample a manner.
32 When tax not paid during lifetime
In any case where, whether intentionally or not, a taxpayer escapes tax in his lifetime by reason of not having duly made full, complete and accurate returns:
(a) the Commissioner shall have the same powers and remedies against the executors and administrators of the taxpayer in respect of the liability which the taxpayer had as he would have had against the taxpayer in his lifetime; and
(b) the executors and administrators shall make such returns and furnish such information as the Commissioner requires for the purposes of the Act.
33 Provision for payment of tax by executors or administrators
(1) Where, at the time of a taxpayer’s death, he had not paid the whole of the tax payable up to the date of his death, the Commissioner shall have the same powers and remedies for the recovery of tax from the executors and administrators as he would have had against that person, if that person were alive.
(2) The executors or administrators shall furnish such of the returns required under the Act or these Regulations as have not been made by the deceased person.
34 Expenses of witnesses
(1) A person, not being the taxpayer, or a representative of the taxpayer, concerning whom the evidence is required, who attends, in pursuance of a requirement under regulation 11, to give evidence before the Commissioner or an officer authorized by him is entitled to receive, in respect of the attendance, such amount in respect of expenses as the Commissioner determines in accordance with the scale of expenses set out in Schedule 2.
(2) In the scale in Schedule 2:
(a) a reference to the Commissioner includes a reference to any officer authorized by the Commissioner for the purposes of regulation 11; and
(b) a reference to the High Court Rules is a reference to the High Court Rules as in force from time to time.
36 Penalty for offences
Where a person contravenes a provision of these Regulations and a penalty for a contravention of that provision is not expressly provided, the person is guilty of an offence against these Regulations punishable upon conviction by a fine not exceeding $500.
37 Territories
For the purposes of these Regulations:
(a) the Australian Capital Territory shall be deemed to be in the State of New South Wales; and
(b) the Northern Territory of Australia shall be deemed to be a separate State.
Schedule 2 Scale of expenses
(regulation 34)
1. Person attending before the Commissioner to give evidence because of that person’s professional, scientific or other special skill or knowledge — in respect of each day on which that person so attends, an amount of not less than the lesser amount specified in the High Court Rules in relation to expenses of witnesses possessing such skill or knowledge and not more than the greater amount so specified.
2. Person, other than a person referred to in Item 1, attending before the Commissioner:
(a) in the case of a person remunerated by wages, salary or fees — such amount as is provided for in the High Court Rules in relation to expenses of witnesses so remunerated;
(b) in any other case — such amount as is provided for in the High Court Rules in relation to expenses of witnesses generally.
3. Person attending before the Commissioner to give expert evidence — in addition to any other amount payable to that person under Item 1 or 2, a reasonable amount for qualifying to give that evidence.
4. Any person attending before the Commissioner — such amount as is reasonable:
(a) in respect of that person’s conveyance to and from the place at which that person so attends; and
(b) if that person is required to be absent overnight from that person’s usual place of residence ‑ for meals and accommodation.
Notes to the Sales Tax Procedure (Old Law) Regulations
Note 1
Note: The Sales Tax Procedure (Old Law) Regulations (in force under the Sales Tax Procedure Act 1934) as shown in this compilation comprise Statutory Rules 1934 No. 155 amended as indicated in the Tables below.