This week, the Albanese Government has introduced the Treasury Laws Amendment (Refining and Improving Our Tax System) Bill 2023 (the Bill) into Parliament.
The Bill transfers administration of four unique Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) categories to the Australian Taxation Office, and repeals provisions relating to maintenance of departmental registers.
The ATO currently administers 48 of the 52 categories under which an organisation may be eligible for endorsement as a deductible gift recipient. Four deductible gift recipient categories – Environmental Organisations, Harm Prevention Charities, Cultural Organisations, and Overseas Aid Organisations – are currently administered by Ministers through departmental registers.
The amendments transfer practical responsibility for assessing deductible gift recipients from these four Ministers to the ATO. The amendments will make all deductible gift recipient categories consistent in administration, reducing the regulatory burden imposed on endorsed organisations and streamlining application and reporting requirements for organisations.
The Bill also provides deregulatory benefits to small and medium businesses that engage with the fuel or alcohol excise system including imported excise-equivalent goods. Rather than needing to report and pay their duties monthly or even weekly, such businesses will be able to lodge and pay their duty quarterly.
The proposed amendment will commence on 1 July 2023. Eligible businesses with less than $50 million aggregated turnover in an income year, who pay fuel and alcohol excise or customs duty on excise-equivalent goods, will then be able to apply for permission from the Commissioner of Taxation or Comptroller-General of Customs to move to the new reporting schedule.
The Bill also introduces a targeted exemption from alcohol excise licensing requirements for the repackaging of beer into containers of no more than 2 litres capacity – known as growlers – for immediate retail sale. This measure applies to the first 10,000 litres of beer that businesses repackage each financial year.
This measure is intended to remove disproportionate regulatory requirements on this practice created by the alcohol excise system. Sale of takeaway alcohol in retail settings will continue to remain the regulatory responsibility of states and territories.