The Minister for Financial Services & Regulation, Joe Hockey, today released the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's fourth quarterly report into the implementation of the New Tax System which shows Australians were not ripped off during the implementation of the New Tax System.
The report covers the three months to 30 September 2000.
"Once again we have research from the ACCC showing that despite the ALP's attempts to shock and confuse consumers, Australians were not ripped off during the implementation of the New Tax System," the Minister said.
"This report show the excellent job the ACCC has done in informing Australia's consumers and educating our businesses about the introduction of the New Tax System."
"The Commission's price monitoring, and the relatively low levels of complaints and enforcement cases (despite its active enforcement approach), indicate that the transition was smooth and the Commission's preparatory activities were largely successful", the ACCC report said.
Key statistics:
- During the quarter, 92 664 calls were made to the GST Price Line. Of these, 65 651 were inquiries and 27 013 were complaints. The number of calls received during September was around 10 per cent of the calls during July.
- The ACCC sent 4270 letters about alleged contraventions. Of these 2354 were letters that notified traders of the minor complaints received but did not require a response to the ACCC. A further 1916 letters notifying traders of more serious potential breaches were sent which required a response.
- Since 1 July 1999, the ACCC has taken legal proceedings in seven GST-related matters, and received around 100 administrative undertakings. Other cases are still being investigated.