✦ Plain-English Summary

Radiocommunications (Receiver Licence Tax) Amendment 2020

What it does

This bill changes how the government taxes radio receiver licences that last longer than 12 months. Instead of a single upfront tax payment, some licence types will now be taxed annually—once when issued, then again each anniversary. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) gets to decide which licence types follow which payment method.

Why it matters

This affects anyone who holds long-term radio receiver licences (like maritime, aviation, or amateur radio operators). You might now pay tax spread across multiple years rather than all at once, which could change your annual costs depending on your licence type.

Key details

• Two tax approaches: Some licences get taxed only once when issued; others get taxed upfront plus every anniversary the licence is active
• ACMA decides: The regulator determines which licence classes use which method through legislative instruments (not parliament)
• Commencement: The changes take effect on a date to be fixed by government proclamation, or automatically 6 months after Royal Assent if no date is set

Official Description

Introduced with the Radiocommunications Legislation Amendment (Reform and Modernisation) Bill 2020 and Radiocommunications (Transmitter Licence Tax) Amendment Bill 2020, the bill amends the Radiocommunications (Receiver Licence Tax) Act 1983 to enable the Australian Communications and Media Authority to determine whether, for a specified class of licences with longer than 12 months duration, the receiver licence tax is imposed on the issue of the licence for the full period the licence is in force, or whether it should be paid in annual instalments.

Committee Referrals

Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee

No formal division recorded

This bill passed by voice vote — parliament agreed without calling a formal count. A division is only recorded when a member explicitly requests one.

No votes yet.

No votes were recorded for this bill.