Income tax: are(i) late lodgment fees scheduled in the Corporations (Fees) Regulations; and (ii) penalties for offences contained in the Corporations Regulations, considered to be 'penalties' within the meaning of subsection 51(4) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 ?

Yes. Firstly, fees for lodgment of documents, including late lodgment thereof, are prescribed under Regulation 3 of the Corporations (Fees) Regulations. A late lodgment fee applies where a corporation lodges a document outside the prescribed period. It becomes due and payable in every instance where a document is lodged late. The late lodgment fee is a disincentive to corporations to lodge documents outside the prescribed period.

Subsection 51(4) denies a deduction under subsection 51(1) for amounts, however described, by way of penalty under Commonwealth, State, Territory or foreign country laws, or for amounts ordered by a court upon conviction for breach of such laws.

The late lodgment fee is an amount imposed by Item 62 of Regulation 3 on a corporation for failure to comply with the statutory timeframe for lodgment of a document. The late lodgment fee is '... an amount ... by way of penalty' within the meaning of subsection 51(4) and is not deductible under subsection 51(1).

Secondly, penalties for prescribed offences are imposed under Schedule 12 of the Corporations Regulations. These are clearly 'penalties' in terms of subsection 51(4) of the Act.