PART V
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LIABILITY TO TAXATION
Division 3
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Deductible expenditure
SECTION 37
EXPLORATION EXPENDITURE
37(1)
For the purposes of this Act, a reference to exploration expenditure incurred by a person in relation to a petroleum project is a reference to payments (not being excluded expenditure), whether of a capital or revenue nature, to the extent that they are made by the person:
(a)
in carrying on or providing operations and facilities involved in or in connection with exploration for petroleum in the eligible exploration or recovery area in relation to the project; and
(b)
in carrying on or providing such of the following as are or have been carried on or provided:
(i)
operations and facilities involved in the recovery of any petroleum from the eligible exploration or recovery area (other than any production licence area) in relation to the project;
(ii)
operations and facilities involved in moving any petroleum so recovered to or between any storage or processing facilities prior to the production of any marketable petroleum commodity from the petroleum;
(iii)
operations and facilities involved in the storage, processing or treating of any petroleum so recovered to produce any marketable petroleum commodity from the petroleum;
(iv)
operations and facilities involved in the moving or storage of any such marketable petroleum commodity before it becomes an excluded commodity;
(v)
services, or facilities for the provision of services, in connection with the operations, facilities, amenities and services referred to in this section;
(vi)
employee amenities in connection with the operations, facilities and services referred to in this section;
(vii)
operations and facilities, carried on or provided, for an environmental purpose, in relation to the carrying on or provision of the operations, facilities and services referred to in this section; and
(c)
in procuring another person to stabilise, transport, store, recover or process petroleum recovered from the eligible exploration or recovery area (other than any production licence area) in relation to the project, if that stabilisation, transportation, storage, recovery or processing constitutes:
(i)
the processing of internal petroleum in relation to the project; or
(ii)
the processing of external petroleum in relation to another petroleum project;
and includes any exploration permit, retention lease or other fee (not being an excluded fee) paid by the person, to the extent that the payment relates to the carrying on or providing of any operations, facilities or other things referred to in this section.
History
S 37(1) amended by No 124 of 2013, s 3 and Sch 6 items 1
-
2, by substituting
"
to the extent that they are made
"
for
"
liable to be made
"
and
"
paid by the person, to the extent that the payment relates to
"
for
"
liable to be paid by the person in relation to
"
, effective 29 June 2013. For application provisions see note under s
41(1)
.
S 37(1) amended by No 18 of 2012, s 3 and Sch 3 items 15 and 16, by omitting
"
and
"
from the end of para (b)(vi) and inserting para (b)(vii), effective 1 July 2012.
S 37(1) amended by
No 47 of 2009
, s 3 and Sch 3 item 31, by substituting para (c), applicable in relation to instalments and assessments of tax under the
Petroleum Resource Rent Tax Assessment Act 1987
for years of tax that start on or after 1 July 2008. Para (c) formerly read:
(c)
in procuring another person to stabilise, transport, store, recover or process petroleum recovered from the eligible exploration or recovery area (other than any production licence area) in relation to the project, if that stabilisation, transportation, storage, recovery or processing constitutes the processing of external petroleum in relation to another petroleum project;
S 37(1) amended by No 101 of 2003, s 3 and Sch 5 items 14 to 17, by omitting
"
in carrying on or providing
"
after
"
made by the person
"
, inserting
"
in carrying on or providing
"
in para (a) and (b) and inserting para (c), effective 14 October 2003.
37(2)
Where, by reason of the application of subsection
5(3)
, exploration for petroleum during a period is taken to occur in a retention lease area or areas in relation to a retention lease or leases related to an exploration permit, any liability incurred during that period to pay an exploration permit fee shall, for the purposes of subsection
(1)
, be taken to relate proportionally to the carrying on of operations involved in exploration for petroleum in the retention lease area or areas and in the remainder of the exploration permit area in relation to the exploration permit, according to the respective sizes of those areas.
37(2A)
(Repealed by No 43 of 2019)
History
S 37(2A) repealed by No 43 of 2019, s 3 and Sch 2 item 49, effective 1 July 2019. For application, transitional and savings provisions, see note under s
31AA
. S 37(2A) formerly read:
37(2A)
Despite subsection (1), if:
(a)
a payment made by a person would, apart from this subsection, be exploration expenditure incurred by the person in relation to a petroleum project; and
(b)
the person holds, under an Australian law, an authority or right (however described) that permits activities relating to resources other than petroleum to be carried on in the eligible exploration or recovery area in relation to the project;
the payment is taken, for the purposes of this Act, to be exploration expenditure only to the extent that it would be reasonable to conclude that the purpose of the payment is exploring for petroleum in order to obtain a commercial return from petroleum.
S 37(2A) inserted by No 96 of 2014, s 3 and Sch 1 item 52, effective 30 September 2014. For transitional provisions see note under s
2AB
.
37(2B)
(Repealed by No 43 of 2019)
History
S 37(2B) repealed by No 43 of 2019, s 3 and Sch 2 item 49, effective 1 July 2019. For application, transitional and savings provisions, see note under s
31AA
. S 37(2B) formerly read:
37(2B)
An authority or right referred to in paragraph (2A)(b) may be a production licence, exploration permit or retention lease, including a production licence to which the petroleum project relates.
S 37(2B) inserted by No 96 of 2014, s 3 and Sch 1 item 52, effective 30 September 2014. For transitional provisions see note under s
2AB
.
37(2C)
(Repealed by No 43 of 2019)
History
S 37(2C) repealed by No 43 of 2019, s 3 and Sch 2 item 49, effective 1 July 2019. For application, transitional and savings provisions, see note under s
31AA
. S 37(2C) formerly read:
37(2C)
Subsections (2A) and (2B) are to avoid doubt, and do not extend by implication the scope of subsection (1).
S 37(2C) inserted by No 96 of 2014, s 3 and Sch 1 item 52, effective 30 September 2014. For transitional provisions see note under s
2AB
.
37(3)
For the purposes of this section, a person is taken to make a payment when the person becomes liable to make the payment.
History
S 37(3) inserted by No 124 of 2013, s 3 and Sch 6 item 3, effective 29 June 2013. For application provisions see note under s
41(1)
.
37(4)
Subject to subsection
(5)
, for the purposes of paragraph
(1)(a)
,
exploration for petroleum
means:
(a)
discovering petroleum; or
(b)
identifying the extent of discovered petroleum; or
(c)
identifying the nature of discovered petroleum.
History
S 37(4) inserted by No 67 of 2024, s 3 and Sch 3 item 8, effective 1 October 2024. No 67 of 2024, s 3 and Sch 3 items 9 and 10 contain the following application provisions:
9 Application of amendments
9
The amendment made applies to payments made on or after 21 August 2013.
10 No retrospective criminal liability
10
The amendment is taken not to make a person criminally liable in respect of acts or omissions of the person before the day on which this item commences, if the person would not have been so liable had this Part not been enacted.
37(5)
For the purposes of paragraph
(1)(a)
,
exploration for petroleum
does not include determining:
(a)
any of the following in relation to the recovery of petroleum:
(i)
commercial viability;
(ii)
economic feasibility;
(iii)
technical feasibility; or
(b)
how to recover any petroleum;
History
S 37(5) inserted by No 67 of 2024, s 3 and Sch 3 item 8, effective 1 October 2024. For application provisions, see note under s
37(4)
.
37(6)
Paragraphs
(5)(a)
and
(b)
do not limit each other.
History
S 37(6) inserted by No 67 of 2024, s 3 and Sch 3 item 8, effective 1 October 2024. For application provisions, see note under s
37(4)
.