* Rules relating to licensing and registration or carbon tax have been now been finalised and are effective.
* The consolidated licensing of facilities requires all facilities to be listed and detailed in a consolidated form (DA185) which must be registered at a single tax office.
* Amendments to the rules were published on 23 December 2019.
* The rules relate to the environmental levy in respect of carbon tax, and substitution of the following forms:
* The period for licence application submissions commenced on 2 January 2020 but will effectively be backdated to 1 June 2019.
* The period for the submission of forms for payment commences on 1 July 2020.
* Payment is due on 30 July 2020 – 2nd last working day of July.

COMMENTS ON THE RULES:

The amendments to the rules include the following changes:

1. Rule 54FD.01 (i) was amended to insert the word consolidated, which reads as follows, the consolidated licensing of the emissions facilities of a taxpayer as its customs and excise manufacturing warehouse for the generation of emissions liable to carbon tax;
2. Rule 54FD.01 (iii) – (iv) was amended to replace (a licensed emissions facility) with the licensed customs and excise manufacturing warehouse;
3. A definition of the customs and excise manufacturing warehouse was inserted, which is "customs and excise manufacturing warehouse" means the combination of each of the emissions facilities of a taxpayer that must be consolidated and licensed as such a warehouse.
4. Rule 54FD.02(a) was amended and replaced with the following –

(i) Every taxpayer must obtain a consolidated licence for the combination of each of its emissions facilities as its customs and excise manufacturing warehouse for the generation of emissions liable to carbon tax; and

(ii) Must designate the premises of its operational control in the Republic as the premises for such a consolidated licence. The activities which a taxpayer conducts that were specifically mentioned in the previous version of the rules such as domestic aviation, railways or water-borne navigations have been deleted.

1. Rule 54FD.04 has been amended to incorporate the submission of a consolidated annual account, as opposed to the initial submission of a (separate annual account) on the DA 180 form.
2. The period for licensing has been moved up to commence on the 2nd of January 2020.

Cova Advisory