The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has clarified the circumstances of allegations by the MTAA today in relation to motor vehicle purchases.
The circumstances were that an e-mail regarding the purchase of new motor vehicles was responded to at 10.52 a.m. today. The response to this e-mail contained incorrect information. The advice was given by an officer at the working level responding to queries by the general public and not by "a senior and high ranking official".
Following further discussions with the person who sent the e-mail, the information was verbally corrected by the ACCC officer concerned at about 2p.m. and later confirmed by written advice.
The ACCC is concerned that the MTAA has in its media release, in fact, distributed incorrect information. It would appear that by the time the MTAA issued its media release, the information had been already corrected by the officer to the inquirer.
Generally, where the ACCC receives inquiries about tax issues these matters are referred to the Australian Taxation Office. The ACCC has taken action to ensure that this incident does not happen again.