The Taxation Administration Act 1953 is the procedural backbone for Australia’s tax system: it governs how the ATO is run, how tax debts are collected (including a general interest charge for late payments), and who is affected — essentially individuals, businesses, super funds and multinationals. It also forces transparency for large companies and...

The Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 is Australia’s principal income tax rulebook: it sets how taxable income is determined, how tax is calculated and paid, and the basic compliance framework. It affects anyone who earns income in Australia — individuals, companies, partnerships and trusts — and matters because it defines liabilities, payment timing,...

This Act centralises how NSW state taxes are assessed, collected, enforced and reviewed under a Chief Commissioner, setting procedures for assessments, refunds, penalties, records, investigations, information‑sharing and objections. It applies to specified NSW taxation laws and related schemes. It affects taxpayers (individuals, companies, trustees),...

The GST Act creates Australia’s 10% goods and services tax system: most sales of goods and services connected to Australia attract GST, which businesses registered for GST must collect and remit to the Tax Office. Businesses can generally recover GST they paid on inputs through credits, while consumers ultimately bear the cost in prices. It also carves out...

This law fixes who counts as the owner for land tax, how tax is apportioned between multiple owners, and how trusts and related companies are grouped and treated for assessment and joint liability. It gives the Commissioner power to classify trust held land as a “special trust,” reject incomplete trustee applications, and reassess accordingly. That changes...

The Act establishes the State payroll tax from 1 July 2007, making employers liable for tax on "taxable wages" (defined mainly by where services are performed) and requiring registration, monthly returns and payment. Group aggregation rules can combine related entities and create joint liability. Administration and enforcement are by the Chief...

The Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986 makes employers — not employees — liable for tax on non cash perks provided to staff (cars, loans, housing, paid personal expenses, etc.). It defines what counts as a fringe benefit, how to value and gross up benefits, and lists exemptions and concessions for certain employers. It matters because it shapes salary...

The Act creates a national regulatory regime for anyone who charges for tax agent, BAS or related tax‑advice services: mandatory registration, a statutory Code of Professional Conduct, continuing education and insurance requirements, and a public register. A new Tax Practitioners Board runs registrations, investigations and sanctions, with civil penalties...

This Act sets ordinary land tax rules and rates (by owner type and taxing year) and imposes a separate surcharge on residential land owned by “foreign persons” (including many trustees). It operates with the Land Tax Management Act for valuation, assessment and collection. It also creates limited exemptions, refunds and compliance conditions (principal...

The Act gives specified international tax agreements domestic legal force and aligns Australia’s income and fringe‑benefit tax outcomes with those treaty limits. It changes sourcing and deeming rules for cross‑border payments, lets taxpayers obtain reduced withholding or rebates where treaties apply, and empowers the Commissioner to collect/exchange...

This Act is the administrative backbone for Australia’s family assistance system: it sets the rules for claiming, paying, reconciling and recovering Family Tax Benefit, Child Care Subsidy, Parental Leave Pay and related payments. It governs income estimates, advances, debt recovery and how personal information is handled. It affects millions of families who...

This Act sets the income‑tax rates and rules for individuals, companies, trustees and various funds, and defines key terms used to allocate income into taxed components. It supplies tax tables, trustee rates, company rates (including the base‑rate entity test), special‑income formulas and working‑holiday rates. It affects residents, non‑residents,...

The A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999 sets who can get government financial support for raising children and using approved childcare in Australia, affecting parents, carers (including grandparents), separated parents and approved providers. It defines eligibility, income and shared‑care tests, immunisation and absence rules, and the suite of...

This law is the main framework for the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT), a profits based tax on companies extracting petroleum (including oil shale) in Australian offshore and some onshore areas. It determines when a project is taxed, how projects can be combined, how costs and returns are adjusted for inflation and bond rates, and how corporate groups...

This law creates a single national ID for businesses: an 11‑digit Australian Business Number (ABN) issued via the Australian Business Register. It applies to individuals and entities carrying on business or making taxable sales in Australia, with special rules for governments, super funds and religious bodies. The ABN streamlines dealings with federal...

This Act is a bridging law that manages the move from Australia’s Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 to the 1997 Act, ensuring taxpayers aren’t double‑taxed or left without entitlements during the switch. It determines when old rules stop and new ones start, carries forward existing approvals and registrations, and preserves pre‑1997 tax losses. It also...

This Act creates the statutory framework for levying Australian income tax, tying liability to existing assessment rules and to rates set in the Income Tax Rates Act. It leaves most substantive definitions and rate setting to other statutes while adding narrow exceptions (a $416 exemption for certain non‑profit companies) and special treatment for some...

The Act requires the Commissioner of Taxation to pay interest where listed Commonwealth taxes or related amounts are paid early, overpaid, or refunded/remitted late (including special rules for superannuation and running balance accounts). It affects taxpayers, superannuation providers, entities with RBAs and the Commissioner’s administration. Why it...

The Act creates serious criminal offences (up to 10 years’ imprisonment or large fines) for arranging, facilitating or knowingly entering transactions intended to make a company or trustee unable to pay specified Commonwealth taxes. It targets arrangers, advisers and participants, while companies/trustees remain the liable entities. It applies beyond income...

This law creates a comprehensive regulatory regime for point‑to‑point passenger transport in NSW: authorising and licensing providers and taxis; imposing non‑transferable safety duties on providers, booking services, drivers and officers with criminal penalties; empowering a Commissioner and authorised officers to inspect and enforce; regulating fares...

The Taxation Administration Regulations 2017 set the practical rules that make Australia’s tax system operate — prescribing withholding rates and thresholds, procedural and enforcement measures (including departure orders and whistleblower protections), information‑sharing, ATO administrative procedures, and industry reporting obligations. They affect...

This law levies a single‑stage luxury car tax on supplies and importations of cars whose value exceeds an annual threshold. The tax applies only to the value above that threshold and is calculated by a statutory formula; suppliers and importers are primarily liable (ss 5‑5, 7‑5). Registered buyers can quote an ABN to defer the tax until retail (Div 9); the...

The Act imposes a surcharge on certain superannuation contributions for high‑income members (years 1996–2005), with the Commissioner calculating adjusted taxable income and the surcharge. Liability and reporting duties fall mainly on contribution holders (usually superannuation providers), who face assessment, payment, record‑keeping and penalty rules;...

This Act provides special transition rules for Australia’s switch from the old sales tax to the GST from 1 July 2000, deciding when supplies straddling that date are treated as pre or post GST. It protects parties to pre existing, long term or fixed price contracts and deals with stock, second‑hand goods, leases, construction, insurance and vouchers to...

The Act governs assessment and collection of a “superannuation contributions surcharge” on high‑income members of constitutionally protected superannuation funds for financial years from 1996–97 up to 2004–05. Members are legally liable; trustees must report and keep records; the Commissioner calculates adjusted taxable income, sets thresholds, defers cash...

The Act sets out how Victoria’s taxation laws are administered and enforced: it gives the Commissioner broad assessment, investigation, collection and disclosure powers, and prescribes refunds, interest, penalties and dispute pathways. It affects taxpayers, tax agents, third parties and corporate officers (including personal liability and record‑keeping...

The Act taxes profits from approved gaming machines in hotels and registered clubs, with hoteliers and clubs liable and payments made as quarterly instalments. CMS licensees, the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority and the Chief Commissioner handle returns, instalment calculations, assessments and enforcement. Registered clubs can claim a capped...

This law levies a payroll tax on employers based on a broad definition of "taxable wages" (cash pay, allowances, fringe benefits, superannuation and certain shares/options). It sets rates, thresholds and monthly reporting rules and gives the tax authority powers to determine valuation, group employers and enforce anti‑avoidance. It matters because it shifts...

This Regulation sets the technical, safety, administrative and financial rules for taxis and hire vehicles in New South Wales: vehicle and driver standards, mandatory in‑vehicle safety tech, record‑keeping and incident reporting, authorisations and annual fees, a passenger service levy, and a fixed transitional payment scheme for certain licence holders. It...