Estate And Gift Duties Amendment Act 1986

This commentary item was published in Public Information Bulletin Volume 157, November 1986

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This Amendment Act gives effect to the Government's decision to increase the maximum penalties for offences against the Estate and Gift Duties Act.

The Act amends section 95 of the principal Act by increasing the maximum penalties for offences. The new penalties are set out in Appendix I of this Bulletin.

A feature of the new penalties is that the maximum penalties are increased for persons who have been convicted of an offence or offences against the principal Act on a previous occasion. It should be noted that the maximum penalty does not increase with each single offence committed. The increase in penalty occurs only on each occasion on which the person is convicted of one or more offences against the principal Act.

Example

The Administrator of an estate fails to deliver an administrators' statement, in terms of section 46 of the principal Act, within the time allowed on two separate occasions. He is prosecuted and convicted of these offences on one occasion. As this is the first conviction the maximum penalties are:

The same administrator later fails to deliver an administrators' statement in respect of two separate estates within the time allowed for each. He is prosecuted and convicted of these two offences on one occasion. Although there has been a total of three offences committed since 1 July 1986, each of the last two comprises the administrators' second conviction. Therefore, the maximum penalty for each of the two later convictions is $4,000.

However, the maximum penalty for a third conviction, or any subsequent convictions, will be $6,000 in respect of each subsequent offence.