AWRS120100 - Raising a penalty assessment: overview

Note: The procedure for raising an AWRS penalty will be confirmed in due course.

Once a Person (P) has become liable to a TWA penalty, we will send them a penalty assessment notice.

This will tell the person what they owe and when they must pay it. Payment is due within 30 days of the date the penalty is notified. A penalty assessment is raised and enforced in the same way as an amount of duty due under ALDA 1979 even though you may not be raising an assessment for unpaid duty at this time. This means that the rules that apply to any duty assessment raised under ALDA 1979 also apply to an AWRS penalty assessment.

Before you issue the penalty assessment you must decide:

  • the amount of the penalty
  • which period(s) the penalty relates to.

You have 12 months to issue the penalty from the date the contravention first comes to our knowledge.

What the penalty assessment must include (details to be confirmed in due course)

You must include the following on the penalty assessment:

  • the date of the assessment
  • the legislation under which the penalty is due
  • your view of the person’s behaviour
  • the reduction for disclosure
  • the amount of the penalty
  • rights of review and appeal and procedures for requesting a review.

Remember that for the purpose of AWRS, a partnership is treated as a person in its own right and if the penalty assessment relates to a partnership trading without approval, it should be issued to the partnership.