 at 6.0%, the ACMA has announced it wants to amend the Radiocommunications (Spectrum Licence Tax) Determination 2021 (the SLT Determination) to update the EME Component to $2,014,000.){kind=link}
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) collects taxes from relevant spectrum licences each year. This covers the costs of spectrum management and the Electromagnetic Energy Program (EME Program) which provides information and research into the impacts of EME on human health.
In 2023–24 and each subsequent financial year, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (Modifications to Apparatus and Spectrum Licences Taxes) Direction 2020 requires the ACMA to collect EME components totalling no more than $1.9 million, indexed by no more than the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
With the June 2023 Consumer Price Index (CPI) at 6.0%, the ACMA has announced it wants to amend the Radiocommunications (Spectrum Licence Tax) Determination 2021 (the SLT Determination) to update the EME Component to $2,014,000.
Spectrum licence tax is charged on spectrum licences on 11 October of each year.
Previously, the ACMA consulted on a proposal to include the 3700–3800 MHz frequency range and update to the corresponding base amount in the SLT Determination. The change in the base amount will not increase the spectrum licence tax for existing spectrum licences in the 3400–3700 MHz frequency range. No concerns were raised by the proposal.
The ACMA has called for feedback on its proposed changes by COB, Thursday 24 August 2023.
Full details about the proposed change, including the calculation used, are outlined in a consultation paper at https://www.acma.gov.au/consultations/2023-07/updates-spectrum-licence-taxes