Bills Digest no. 118 2007–08
Customs Tariff Amendment (Tobacco Content) Bill 2008
WARNING:
This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as introduced
and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest does not have
any official legal status. Other sources should be consulted to determine
the subsequent official status of the Bill.
CONTENTS
Passage history
Purpose
Background
Financial implications
Main provisions
Contact officer & copyright details
Passage history
Customs Tariff
Amendment (Tobacco Content) Bill 2008
Date introduced: 28
May 2008
House: House
of Representatives
Portfolio: Home
Affairs
Commencement: The
amendments are taken to have commenced on 1 November 1999. The Act
itself commences upon Royal Assent.
Links: The relevant
links to the Bill, Explanatory Memorandum and second reading speech
can be accessed via BillsNet, which is at http://www.aph.gov.au/bills/. When Bills
have been passed they can be found at ComLaw, which is at http://www.comlaw.gov.au/.
Schedule 1 of the Bill will amend the Customs Tariff
Act 1995 (the Customs Tariff Act) to incorporate a definition of ‘tobacco
content’. The definition will have retrospective application from 1 November
1999.
There is presently
no definition of the term ‘tobacco content’ in the Customs Tariff Act.
However, according to the Bill’s Second Reading Speech, the proposed
definition reflects the practice adopted by the Australian Customs Service
(ACS) and industry alike since 1999.[1]
Notwithstanding, there is a perceived risk to revenue as a result of uncertainty
surrounding the term.
Schedule 3 of the Customs Tariff Act provides the rate of excise duty
which tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes attract. The rate is
calculated according to the weight of tobacco content. For example, some
cigarettes containing tobacco attract an excise of $235.90 per kilogram
of ‘tobacco content’.
Under the proposed definition, ‘tobacco content’ will include any thing
(including moisture) added to the tobacco leaf during manufacturing or
processing. Such a definition ensures that any excise payable is calculated
on the total weight of the goods. For comparative purposes, ‘tobacco’
is defined in the Schedule to the Commonwealth’s Excise Tariff Act
1921 as ‘tobacco leaf subjected to any process other than curing the
leaf as stripped from the plant’.
The Explanatory Memorandum states that the Bill will have no financial
impact.
Item 1 of Schedule
1 amends subsection 3(1) of the Customs Tariff Act by inserting a definition
of ‘tobacco content’. The term is defined to include any thing added to
the tobacco leaf during manufacturing or processing. The Explanatory Memorandum
elaborates that this includes sugar, flavour, additives, or any thing
else (including moisture) added to the tobacco leaf during manufacturing
or processing.[2]
Application: The amendments contained in Schedule 1 apply to goods
imported from 1 November 1999 and to goods imported prior to this date,
if the requisite deadline for calculating the rate of import duty had
not occurred by 1 November 1999.
Elibritt Karlsen
3 June 2008
Bills Digest Service
Parliamentary Library
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