Meat chickens levy

A producer, the proprietor of the hatchery where the leviable meat chickens are hatched is liable to pay the levy.

A producer who is a proprietor of the hatchery where leviable meat chickens are hatched in a month must submit a return and make a payment to the department.

Levy is not imposed on:

• meat chickens hatched at a hatchery in a financial year if less than 20,000 meat chickens are hatched at that hatchery in that year.
• meat chickens that die, or are destroyed, at the hatchery at which they were hatched within 48 hours after being hatched.

You must register with the department to receive a unique LRS number before you can lodge your first return.

To lodge your return online, access Levies Online . Alternatively, you can complete a meat chickens return form.

IMPORTANT: If you pay your levy late you will incur a penalty that is calculated daily at a compounding rate of 2 per cent of the unpaid amount each month, including any penalties you have already accrued until you have paid the outstanding amount in full.

The meat chickens levy is based on a financial year.

Monthly returns and payments must be lodged with the department within two (2) months of the end of the month in which the hatching took place.

Example: for the month of July, the return and payment is due to the department on or before 30 September.

As a producer of meat chickens, your return for a month must state, in respect of the month:

1. Your personal details, including:
   1. Full name
   2. Business or residential address, not the address of a post office box or post office bag
   3. Your email and/or phone number
   4. Post office box or post office bag, and
   5. Australian Business Number (ABN), or if you are a company the Australian Company Number (ACN)
2. Period to which the return relates
3. Full name and business address of the hatchery, not the address of a post office box or post office bag
4. Number of meat chickens hatched at the hatchery
5. Number of meat chickens that died or were destroyed at the hatchery within 48 hours after being hatched
6. Number of meat chickens on which levy is payable
7. Total amount of levy payable, and
8. Total amount of levy paid.

As a producer of meat chickens, you must keep records for five (5) years, setting out for each month, the:

1. Number of eggs set in incubators at the hatchery
2. Number of meat chickens hatched at the hatchery
3. Number of chickens, other than meat chickens, hatched at the hatchery
4. ​Number of the meat chickens hatched at the hatchery that died, or were destroyed, at the hatchery within 48 hours after being hatched, and
5. For meat chickens hatched at the hatchery that were sold before they were one (1) month old, the:
   1. Number of meat chickens sold
   2. Date of each sale, and
   3. For each person to whom meat chickens were sold, the persons:
      1. Full name, business or residential address, not the address of a post office box or post office bag, and ABN, if any or if the person is a company and does not have an ABN, its ACN, and
6. Number of meat chickens hatched at the hatchery that were disposed of, except by sale, before they were one (1) month old and the method of disposal

The meat chickens levy is provided for under the:

Primary Industries (Excise) Levies Act 1999

National Residue Survey (Excise) Levy Act 1998, and

Primary Industries Levies and Charges Collection Act 1991.