s 64A Offences in relation to unauthorised collections of tax or amounts attributable to tax
64A.—(1) Subject to subsection (3), where any person collects or attempts to collect from any other person any amount as tax or as being attributable to tax, the person shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction —(a) pay a penalty equal to 3 times the amount which the person collected or attempted to collect; and (b) be liable to a fine not exceeding $10,000.[52/2018] (2) Subject to subsection (3), where any person, without reasonable excuse or through negligence, collects or attempts to collect from any other person any amount as tax or as being attributable to tax, the person shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction —(a) pay a penalty equal to 3 times the amount which the person collected or attempted to collect; and (b) be liable to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both.[52/2018; 33/2019] (3) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply to —(a) a specified person; (b) a person who is appointed for the due administration of this Act or any assistant employed in connection with the assessment and collection of tax; or (c) a person who is not mentioned in paragraph (b), but represents or holds himself, herself or itself out as such.[52/2018] (4) Where any specified person, without reasonable excuse or through negligence, collects or attempts to collect from any other person —(a) any amount as tax or as being attributable to tax, where no tax is chargeable under this Act; or (b) any amount in excess of the tax chargeable under this Act that the specified person is permitted to collect under this Act, the specified person shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction — (c) pay a penalty equal to —(i) for an offence under paragraph (a), 3 times the amount which the person collected or attempted to collect; and (ii) for an offence under paragraph (b), 3 times the amount which the person collected or attempted to collect, that is in excess of the amount the specified person was permitted to collect under this Act; and (d) be liable to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both.[52/2018] (5) In this section, “specified person” means any of the following:(a) a person registered under this Act; (b) a person treated for the purposes of section 30 as a member of a group; (c) a person treated as a taxable person under this Act; (d) an agent appointed under section 79; (e) a person authorised under any subsidiary legislation made under this Act to issue an invoice or a receipt showing an amount of tax.[52/2018]