The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS) has commenced a review into Australia’s border-related fees, charges and taxes (Fees Review) on behalf of the Immigration and Border Protection Portfolio, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, the Hon Scott Morrison has said.
‘Each year border agencies collect around $3 billion in revenue from border related fees and charges. This is in addition to the billions that are collected by border agencies in excises and other taxes,’ Minister Morrison said.
‘Outside the Australian Taxation Office the Immigration and Border Protection portfolio is the biggest ‘tax collector’ in the country.
‘At the same time it costs more than $6 billion a year to protect and administer our borders. It is a core function of Government.
‘Our border is a strategic national asset. We must manage it effectively to produce positive economic dividends from legitimate trade and travel, while delivering national security dividends by protecting Australia from those who seek to compromise our borders for criminal, terrorist or other corrupt purposes.
‘We must ensure that border fees and charges do not provide a disincentive to trade and travel that adds value to our economy. However, we must equally ensure that wherever possible we recover the costs of facilitating the movement of goods and people, to avoid drawing further on the general taxpaying community.
‘The Fees Review will strive to find the right balance between supporting Australia’s international competitiveness, relieving the administrative burden on industry and ensuring the costs of maintaining the integrity of our border are appropriately shared with those who use it.
‘The Government’s review is tasked to produce a budget neutral outcome, in terms of any cost to revenue, however, it does provide the opportunity to align the border fees, charges and taxes regimes with the practices of business resulting in more secure and efficient borders,’ Minister Morrison said.
Thames Migration along with peak body representation will direct its ideas through respective industry body.
Information on the Australian Visa Application Charge Fees Review will be available via our website.