Australian Capital Territory Tax (Vehicle Registration) Act 1981

Act No. 129 of 1981 as amended

[Note: This Act was repealed by Act No. 8 of 2007 on 15 March 2007]

This compilation was prepared on 8 November 2000
taking into account amendments up to Act No. 62 of 1987

The text of any of those amendments not in force
on that date is appended in the Notes section

The operation of amendments that have been incorporated may be
affected by application provisions that are set out in the Notes section

Prepared by the Office of Legislative Drafting and Publishing,
Attorney‑General’s Department, Canberra

Contents

1............ Short title [see Note 1]....................................................................... 1

2............ Commencement [see Note 1].............................................................. 1

3............ Incorporation...................................................................................... 1

3A......... Termination of tax.............................................................................. 1

4............ Imposition of tax................................................................................ 1

5............ Rate of tax........................................................................................... 1

6............ Exemptions—general.......................................................................... 1

7............ Exemptions—successors of deceased persons................................... 3

8............ Exemptions—hire‑purchase agreements and leases............................ 3

9............ Regulations......................................................................................... 4

Notes                                                                                                                                              5

An Act relating to the imposition of tax in respect of the registration of certain vehicles in the Australian Capital Territory

1  Short title [see Note 1]

                   This Act may be cited as the Australian Capital Territory Tax (Vehicle Registration) Act 1981.

2  Commencement [see Note 1]

                   This Act shall come into operation on such date as is fixed by Proclamation.

3  Incorporation

                   The Australian Capital Territory Taxation (Administration) Act 1969 is incorporated and shall be read as one with this Act.

3A  Termination of tax

                   Tax is not imposed in respect of the registration of a vehicle where application for the registration is made on or after the termination day.

4  Imposition of tax

                   Tax is imposed in respect of each registration of a vehicle, where application for the registration is made after the commencement of this Act.

5  Rate of tax

                   The rate of tax is $2 for each $100, or part of $100, of the market value of the vehicle.

6  Exemptions—general

             (1)  Tax is not imposed in respect of the registration of a vehicle in the name or names of a person or persons where:

                     (a)  the vehicle was registered, or registered under a corresponding law, at any time before the first‑mentioned registration; and

                     (b)  the last such registration was solely in the name or names of the same person or persons.

             (2)  Tax is not imposed in respect of the registration of a vehicle solely in the name or names of one or more of the following persons:

                     (a)  a person that is, a person on behalf of, or a trustee upon trust for or for the purposes of, a public hospital, public benevolent institution, religious institution or public educational institution;

                     (b)  a diplomatic mission in Australia of a government of a reciprocating country;

                     (c)  a person who is a member of such a mission or is a member of the family of such a member forming part of his household, being a person who is not an Australian citizen and is not ordinarily resident in Australia;

                     (d)  a person referred to in item 135 or 135A of the First Schedule to the Sales Tax (Exemptions and Classifications) Act 1935, where the vehicle would have been exempt from sales tax by virtue of either of those items if the vehicle had been:

                              (i)  purchased by that person immediately before the registration of the vehicle; and

                             (ii)  new at the time of that purchase;

                     (e)  a person carrying on a business in respect of which he is a licensed dealer under the Sale of Motor Vehicles Ordinance 1977 of the Australian Capital Territory, or that Ordinance as amended and in force for the time being, where the vehicle is held by that person as trading stock for resale in the course of carrying on that business; or

                      (f)  a person carrying on a business in respect of which he is licensed or registered by or under a prescribed law of a State or Territory (other than the Australian Capital Territory), where the vehicle is held by that person as trading stock for resale in the course of carrying on that business.

             (3)  In paragraph (2)(b), reciprocating country means a country that does not impose taxation in relation to the registration or licensing of vehicles or grants in relation to Australia an exemption from any such taxation corresponding to the exemptions provided by paragraphs (2)(b) and (c).

7  Exemptions—successors of deceased persons

             (1)  Where:

                     (a)  a vehicle is registered in the name of a particular person or in the names of persons including a particular person; and

                     (b)  the particular person dies;

then, for the purposes of the application, according to its tenor, of subsection 6(1) in relation to a registration or registrations of the vehicle subsequent to the death:

                     (c)  if, immediately after the deceased person’s death, the assets of his estate included an interest in the vehicle—the deceased person and his successor or successors shall be treated as being the same person; or

                     (d)  in any other case—the vehicle shall be treated as never having been registered in the name of the deceased person.

             (2)  A reference in subsection (1) to a successor of a deceased person, in relation to the registration of a vehicle, is a reference to a person in whom an interest in the vehicle has vested by reason of his being a personal representative of the deceased person or a beneficiary of the deceased person’s estate.

             (3)  In this section:

interest means a proprietary interest, and includes an entitlement to such an interest under the will of, or on the intestacy of, a deceased person.

registration, unless the contrary intention appears, includes registration under a corresponding law, and registered has a corresponding meaning.

8  Exemptions—hire‑purchase agreements and leases

             (1)  Where:

                     (a)  a vehicle is registered, or registered under a corresponding law, and, at the time of that registration, is the subject of a hire‑purchase agreement or the subject of a lease of a kind under which it is customary for the vehicle to be registered in the name of the lessee;

                     (b)  the person who is, or the persons who are, at that time, the owner or owners of the vehicle subsequently acquires or acquire possession of the vehicle:

                              (i)  by way of repossession or voluntary return in accordance with the hire‑purchase agreement or the law applicable to that agreement; or

                             (ii)  in accordance with the rights of the lessor under the lease;

                            as the case may be;

                     (c)  the next registration after that acquisition (in this subsection referred to as the relevant registration) is solely in the name or names of the person or persons referred to in paragraph (b); and

                     (d)  the application for the relevant registration is made on or after 14 October 1982;

tax is not imposed in respect of the relevant registration.

             (2)  In subsection (1), owner, in relation to a vehicle means:

                     (a)  where the vehicle is the subject of a hire‑purchase agreement—a person letting, hiring or agreeing to sell the vehicle under the agreement; or

                     (b)  where the vehicle is the subject of a lease—a lessor of the vehicle under the lease;

being a person carrying on a business of letting, hiring or agreeing to sell vehicles under hire‑purchase agreements, or of letting vehicles on lease, as the case may be, whether or not that business is part of, or is carried on in conjunction with any other business.

9  Regulations

                   The Governor‑General may make regulations for the purposes of paragraph 6(2)(f).

Notes to the Australian Capital Territory Tax (Vehicle Registration) Act 1981

Note 1

The Australian Capital Territory Tax (Vehicle Registration) Act 1981 as shown in this compilation comprises Act No. 129, 1981 amended as indicated in the Tables below.

Table of Acts

(a)     The Australian Capital Territory Tax (Vehicle Registration) Act 1981 was amended by section 59 only of the Taxation Laws Amendment Act (No. 2) 1987, subsection 2(8) of which provides as follows:

                 (8)   Part VIII shall come into operation on a day, or respective days, to be fixed by Proclamation.

Table of Amendments