The Telecommunications Act 2011 defines ‘qualified revenue’ as being revenue received for supplying telecommunications services either by means of the liable person’s PTN or by means that rely primarily on the existence of its or any other PTN. This information is used to allocate the percentage of the TDL each qualifying liable person is required to pay.
Section 83 of the Act requires liable persons (that qualify to pay for the TDL) to provide the Commerce Commission with financial information that will be used to identify their qualified revenue. This information is due to the Commission 60 working days after the end of the financial year
Having received the information from each qualifying liable person, the Commission confirms the qualified revenue totals. Each qualifying liable person’s individual total is configured as a percentage of the total qualified revenue earned by all qualifying liable persons in the year under review. This percentage becomes the percentage of the TDL ($50 million for the 2011/12 year) the qualifying liable person is required to pay.
In August 2012, the Commission commenced a development process on the qualified revenue framework to support the requirements outlined above. At that time, the Commission gave notice that due to the delays caused by the development processes, liable persons would have a reasonable excuse not to comply with the requirements in section 83 of the Act, for the 2011/12 TDL LAD. The information would be sought at a later date.
On 19 October 2012, the Commission released the discussion document Establishing the Qualified Revenue Framework for the Telecommunications Development Levy. This document outlines the Commission’s preliminary views on how the qualified revenue framework will operate, and interested parties are encouraged to provide comment on those views.
