Steven Ciobo (Moncrieff, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

The proposals described as Excise Tariff Proposal (No. 1) 2013 and Customs Tariff Proposal (No. 2) 2013 in the terms of the printed proposals, which are now being circulated to honourable members.

The excise and customs tariff proposals that I have just tabled propose increases to and a change in method of indexation for excise and excise-equivalent customs duty applying to tobacco and tobacco products. These are the measures of the previous Labor government having been announced in the 2013-14 budget and the 2013 economic statement.

Excise Tariff Proposal (No. 1) 2013 and Customs Tariff Proposal (No. 2) 2013 formally place before the parliament four proposed staged increases of 12.5 per cent to the excise and excise-equivalent customs duty on tobacco products on 1 December 2013, 1 September 2014, 1 September 2015 and 1 September 2016. This first staged increase equates to an increase in the rates of excise and customs duty applying to tobacco, cigars, cigarettes and snuff from 0.35731 to 0.40197 per stick, not exceeding 0.8 grams per stick of actual tobacco content in weight, and from $446.65 to $502.48 per kilogram of tobacco content for other tobacco—for example, loose tobacco—with effect on and from 1 December 2013. In addition, tobacco excise and excise-equivalent customs duty will be indexed to average weekly ordinary time earnings, instead of CPI, commencing from 1 March 2014.

The dates of indexation will change to 1 March and 1 September each year, from 1 February and 1 August, to coincide with the releases of AWOT data by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. These changes were gazetted on 29 November 2013 in accordance with section 160B of the Excise Act 1901 and section 273EA of the Customs Act 1901. They are now being tabled in the House of Representatives. A summary of the alterations contained in these proposals has been prepared and is being circulated.

Debate adjourned.

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