Bill: Draft Tax-Fee Distinction Act

[Talion77]

A
BILL
To

Clarify the definition of tax​

The people of the Commonwealth of Redmont, through their elected Representatives in the Congress and the force of law ordained to that Congress by the people through the constitution, do hereby enact the following provisions into law:

1 - Short Title and Enactment
(1) This Act may be cited as the 'Tax-Fee Distinction Act'.
(2) This Act shall be enacted immediately upon its signage.
(3) This Act has been authored by Vice President Technofied and formatted by PoS Pepecuu.
(4) This Act has been co-sponsored by Representative .CaldironJa1.

2 - Reasons
(1) The announcement of a new “Fairness Fee” has caused much debate on to what extent Departments can impose their own fees.
(2) The definition under common law for taxation imposes an overly binary view on taxation, and whether it is voluntary or involuntary (see: zLost v. The Commonwealth of Redmont [2023] FCR 75)
(3) A clear definition for fees should be established to:
(a) Distinguish the functional purpose of tax from fees;
(b) Provide commercial certainty and confidence in daily language used in the course of economic transactions.
(4) Congress wishes to keep its fundamental responsibility of the “Power of the Purse”, but also allow Departments to have some flexibility in fee collection for their services.


3 - Definitions
(1) The key terms below shall be defined as follows:
(a) “Tax” means a payment required by the Government, for public purposes, and not in return for a specific service.
(b) “Fee” means a payment in return for a specific service provided to, or regulatory activity undertaken.