The Government has set out plans to impose a 1 per cent tax on every penny of windfarm wind farm activity.
The government said the windfarm levy would apply to the first 100MW of new windfarm construction.
The Department of the Environment has also issued guidance to businesses to notify the Government of their planned windfarm activity, with some businesses already reporting windfarm owners in the state and in NSW.
While the guidance is not compulsory, it is likely to be an important incentive to windfarm operators to work out how to minimise the tax.
“The advice will also help businesses in managing the impact of a windfarm on their business.
It will be important to ensure that business owners are not under pressure to take the wind-up decision because they will have to pay the tax,” Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg said.
He said it was important for the industry to be informed about any tax changes, as “there will be some that will be difficult to understand”.
“If there is any tax increase or a tax hike, then that will have an impact on business, particularly in areas like NSW where it’s a fairly high cost of living,” Mr Frydenburg said.
“Businesses need to understand their costs and if there is an increase in the cost of electricity, they will be impacted in the same way as others.”
The windfarm is a new form of windfarming.
The Government said it would allow for the construction of 1,000MW of windmills and will also allow for up to 300MW of solar.
It is understood the windfarms will be operated by the Wind Farm Authority, which is the regulatory body for windfarm developers.
In January, the Federal Government also announced it would impose a 5 per cent GST on every dollar of new building of new homes.
Earlier this month, the National Australia Bank cut its lending rates to 5 per one cent, with the intention of increasing the rate to 10 per cent.
This follows a 2.5 per cent cut from the Federal Treasury last month, which was due to be reviewed in April.
On the other side of the ledger, the Reserve Bank has cut its interest rate by 0.25 per cent to 0.3 per cent, and its deposit rate by one basis point to 0 per cent as it attempts to support the economy.
Topics:business-economics-and-finance,wind-energy,government-and/or-politics,winds,windfarm,federal-government,government—state-issues,windenergy,industry,climate-change,australia,nsw,sydney-2000,warrin-3051,nabbubbs-3043First posted September 07, 2018 10:17:34Contact Sam O’ConnorMore stories from New South Wales
