The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), acting upon a direction from the Treasurer, the Hon. Joe Hockey MP, is monitoring the prices, costs, and profits across various sectors in order to assess the general effect of the carbon tax scheme in Australia.
“This information will permit the ACCC to understand how the carbon tax has affected price tags across the economy. It provides a benchmark to allow the ACCC to compare prices charged to consumers both before and after the carbon tax is removed,” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said.
“The ACCC expects that after the repeal of the carbon tax businesses will remove any remaining carbon components in prices and that consumers will see the benefit of the repeal as quickly as possible.”
In accordance with the direction, the ACCC has provided a report to the Treasurer detailing the ACCC’s monitoring activities for the March 2014 quarter. A copy of the report is available at: Monitoring of prices, costs & profits to assess the general effect of the carbon tax scheme in Australia.
In March 2014, the ACCC sent voluntary information requests to relevant entities seeking information on the impact of the carbon tax scheme on the entity and their prices. The ACCC will report on its analysis of the responses in upcoming reports to the Treasurer.
The ACCC will continue to engage with stakeholders to discuss their rights, responsibilities and obligations under the CCA, any proposed amendments to the CCA, and under the direction by the Treasurer.
The second report detailing the ACCC’s monitoring activities for the June 2014 quarter will be provided to the Treasurer by 28 July 2014.