S 3E inserted by No 124 of 2013, s 3 and Sch 5 item 1, applicable to: (a) the 2013-14 income year and later income years; and (b) the 2013-2014 MRRT year and later MRRT years; and (c) the year of tax (within the meaning of the
Petroleum Resource Rent Tax Assessment Act 1987
) starting on 1 July 2013 and later years of tax.
Former s 3E repealed by No 145 of 2010, s 3 and Sch 2 item 110, effective 17 December 2010. S 3E formerly read:
SECTION 3E USE OF TAX INFORMATION BY LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES AND ELIGIBLE ROYAL COMMISSIONS ETC.
3E(1)
Notwithstanding any taxation secrecy provision, the Commissioner may disclose information acquired by the Commissioner under the provisions of a tax law to an authorised law enforcement agency officer, or to an authorised Royal Commission officer, if the Commissioner is satisfied that the information is relevant to:
(a)
establishing whether a serious offence has been, or is being, committed; or
(b)
the making, or proposed or possible making, of a proceeds of crime order.
History
S 3E(1) amended by No 47 of 1992.
3E(2)
Where information is communicated to an officer under subsection (1) of this section or paragraph
3EA(3)(e)
, the officer must not divulge or communicate the information to another person, or make a record of the information.
History
S 3E(2), (2A), (2B), and (2C) substituted for s 3E(2) by No 146 of 2001.
S 3E(2) amended by No 161 of 1999 and No 47 of 1992.
3E(2A)
Subsection (2) does not apply to the extent that the information was divulged or communicated, or the record of the information was made, for, or in connection with:
(a)
the investigation of a serious offence; or
(b)
an investigation relating to the making, or proposed or possible making, of a proceeds of crime order.
Note:
A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matters in subsection (2A), see subsection
13.3(3)
of the
Criminal Code
.
History
S 3E(2), (2A), (2B) and (2C) substituted for s 3E(2) by No 146 of 2001.
3E(2B)
A person to whom information has been communicated in accordance with subsection (2A) or (2C) must not divulge or communicate the information to another person, or make a record of the information.
History
S 3E(2), (2A), (2B) and (2C) substituted for s 3E(2) by No 146 of 2001.
3E(2C)
Subsection (2B) does not apply to the extent that the information was divulged or communicated, or the record of the information was made, for, or in connection with, the investigation mentioned in subsection (2A).
Note:
A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matters in subsection (2C), see subsection
13.3(3)
of the
Criminal Code
.
History
S 3E(2), (2A), (2B) and (2C) substituted for s 3E(2) by No 146 of 2001.
3E(3)
Where information is communicated to a person under subsection (1), (2A) or (2C) of this section or paragraph
3EA(3)(e)
, the person:
(a)
shall not voluntarily give the information in evidence in a proceeding before a court; and
(b)
shall not be required to divulge or communicate the information to a court.
History
S 3E(3) amended by No 146 of 2001 and No 161 of 1999.
3E(4)
Where information is communicated to an officer under subsection (1) of this section or paragraph 3EA(3)(e), nothing in subsection (2), (2B) or (3) prohibits:
(a)
the communication of the information to a person, or the making of a record of the information, for the purposes of, or in connection with:
(i)
the prosecution, or proposed or possible prosecution, of a person for a tax-related offence; or
(ii)
proceedings, or proposed or possible proceedings, for the making of a proceeds of crime order; or
(b)
the voluntary communication of the information to a court in the course of either of the following proceedings before that court:
(i)
a prosecution of a person for a tax-related offence;
(ii)
proceedings for the making of a proceeds of crime order.
History
S 3E(4) amended by No 146 of 2001, No 161 of 1999 and No 47 of 1992.
3E(5)
A person to whom information has been communicated in accordance with paragraph (4)(a) or this subsection shall not divulge or communicate the information, or make a record of the information.
History
S 3E(5) amended by No 146 of 2001.
3E(5A)
Subsection (5) does not apply to the extent that the information was divulged or communicated, or the record of the information was made, for, or in connection with:
(a)
the prosecution referred to in subparagraph (4)(a)(i); or
(b)
the proceedings referred to in subparagraph (4)(a)(ii).
Note:
A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matters in subsection (5A), see subsection
13.3(3)
of the
Criminal Code
.
History
S 3E(5A) inserted by No 146 of 2001.
3E(6)
A person to whom information is communicated in accordance with paragraph (4)(a) or subsection (5) shall not be required to divulge or communicate that information to a court.
3E(6A)
If information is communicated to an authorised Royal Commission officer under subsection (1):
(a)
the person or persons constituting the eligible Royal Commission concerned may, in a manner that does not identify, and is not reasonably capable of being used to identify, the person to whom the information relates:
(i)
communicate the information to the appropriate executive authority in a report by the eligible Royal Commission; or
(ii)
divulge the information in the course of a proceeding conducted by the eligible Royal Commission, other than a proceeding conducted in private; and
(b)
the person or persons constituting the eligible Royal Commission concerned may communicate the information to the appropriate executive authority in a report by the eligible Royal Commission; and
(c)
the person or persons constituting the eligible Royal Commission concerned may divulge the information in the course of a proceeding conducted in private by the eligible Royal Commission where each person present is covered by one of the following categories:
(i)
the person or persons constituting the eligible Royal Commission;
(ii)
an official of the eligible Royal Commission;
(iii)
if the person to whose affairs the information relates is a company:
(A)
a person who is, or has been, a director or officer of the company; or
(B)
a person who is, or has been, directly involved in, or responsible for, the preparation of information given to the Commissioner on behalf of the company;
(iv)
if the person to whose affairs the information relates is not a company
-
that person;
(v)
the person who gave the information to the Commissioner;
(vi)
a barrister or solicitor representing either of the following in relation to the proceeding:
(A)
a company covered by subparagraph (iii);
(B)
a person covered by sub-subparagraph (iii)(A) or (B) or subparagraph (iv) or (v).
History
S 3E(6A) inserted by No 47 of 1992.
3E(6B)
A person does not contravene subsection (2) or (2B) because of anything done for the purposes of enabling a thing mentioned in paragraph (6A)(a), (b) or (c) to happen.
History
S 3E(6B) amended by No 146 of 2001 and inserted by No 47 of 1992.
3E(6C)
If information is communicated to the appropriate executive authority under paragraph (6A)(b), the executive authority:
(a)
must not divulge or communicate the information to another person, or make a record of the information; and
(b)
must not voluntarily give the information in evidence in a proceeding before a court; and
(c)
is not to be required to divulge or communicate the information to a court.
History
S 3E(6C) amended by No 146 of 2001 and inserted by No 47 of 1992.
3E(6CA)
Paragraph (6C)(a) does not apply to the extent that the information was divulged or communicated, or the record of the information was made, for the purposes of, or in connection with, the disclosure of the information to an authorised law enforcement agency officer.
Note:
A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matters in subsection (6CA), see subsection
13.3(3)
of the
Criminal Code
.
History
S 3E(6CA) inserted by No 146 of 2001.
3E(6D)
If information is communicated to an authorised law enforcement agency officer under paragraph (6C)(a), this section has effect as if the information had been communicated to the officer under subsection (1).
History
S 3E(6D) inserted by No 47 of 1992.
3E(7)
A person who divulges or communicates information, or makes a record of information, in contravention of this section is guilty of an offence punishable, upon conviction, by a fine not exceeding $10,000 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 2 years, or both.
3E(8)
Subsection (1) is in addition to, and not in derogation of, any other provision of this Act or of any other law relating to the communication of information.
3E(9)
For the purposes of this section, the communication of information to, or the making of a record of information by, a barrister or a solicitor representing a person in relation to a particular prosecution or other proceedings shall be taken to be the communication of the information, or the making of a record of the information, as the case requires, for the purposes of, or in connection with, that prosecution or those proceedings, as the case may be.
3E(10)
A reference in this section to:
(a)
the possible making of a proceeds of crime order in respect of a person; or
(b)
possible proceedings for the making of a proceeds of crime order in respect of a person;
includes a reference to the making of an order that is only a possibility, or to proceedings that are only a possibility, at the time in question because the person has not been convicted (within the meaning of section 331 of the
Proceeds of Crime Act 2002
) of an offence to which the order relates.
History
S 3E(10) amended by No 86 of 2002.
3E(11)
In this section:
appropriate executive authority
, in relation to an eligible Royal Commission, means:
(a)
in the case of an eligible Royal Commission of the Commonwealth
-
the Governor-General; or
(b)
in the case of an eligible Royal Commission of a State
-
the Governor of the State; or
(c)
in the case of an eligible Royal Commission of the Northern Territory
-
the Administrator, or acting Administrator, of the Northern Territory; or
(d)
in the case of an eligible Royal Commission of the Australian Capital Territory
-
the Chief Minister, or acting Chief Minister, of that Territory; or
(e)
in any other case
-
the person specified in the regulations.
History
Definition of
"
appropriate executive authority
"
inserted by No 47 of 1992.
company
has the meaning given by subsection
995-1(1)
of the
Income Tax Assessment Act 1997
.
History
Definition of
"
company
"
amended by
No 101 of 2006
, s 3 and Sch 2 item 929, by substituting
"
meaning given by subsection 995-1(1) of the
Income Tax Assessment Act 1997
"
for
"
same meaning as in section 6 of the
Income Tax Assessment Act 1936
"
, effective 14 September 2006. For application and savings provisions see the
CCH Australian Income Tax Legislation archive
.
Definition of
"
company
"
inserted by No 47 of 1992.
proceeds of crime order
means an order, relating to a person's commission of a serious offence, under:
(a)
Chapter 2 or Division 1 of Part 3-1 of the
Proceeds of Crime Act 2002
; or
(b)
Part II or III of the
Proceeds of Crime Act 1987
; or
(c)
a law of a State or Territory corresponding to paragraph (a) or (b); or
(d)
Division
3
of Part
XIII
of the
Customs Act 1901
.
History
Definition of
"
proceeds of crime order
"
substituted by No 86 of 2002.
serious offence
means an offence against a law of the Commonwealth, of a State or of a Territory that may be dealt with as an indictable offence (even if it may, in some circumstances, be dealt with as a summary offence).
taxation secrecy provision
means a provision of a tax law that prohibits the communication or divulging of information.
tax law
means:
(a)
a taxation law;
(b)
any other Act of which the Commissioner has the general administration;
(c)
a repealed Act of which the Commissioner had the general administration; or
(d)
regulations under an Act referred to in paragraph (b) or (c).
tax-related offence
means:
(a)
an offence against:
(i)
a tax law; or
(ii)
the
Crimes (Taxation Offences) Act 1980
;
(b)
an offence against the
Crimes Act 1914
or the
Criminal Code
relating to a law referred to in paragraph (a); or
(c)
an offence against section
134.1
,
134.2
,
135.1
,
135.2
or
135.4
of the
Criminal Code
, being an offence that relates to a liability to the Commonwealth arising under, or by virtue of, a tax law.
History
Definition of
"
tax-related offence
"
amended by No 146 of 2001 and No 137 of 2000.
S 3E inserted by No 107 of 1989.
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