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Public Revenues Act 1959

NIUE LAWS
LEGISLATION AS AT DECEMBER 2006

PUBLIC REVENUES ACT 1959

1959/1 – 1 October 1959

1 Short title
2 Interpretation

PART 1
THE TREASURY

3 Administration of Act
4 Appointment of Financial Secretary
5 Financial Secretary may delegate
6 Accounting officers
7 Financial Secretary to be member of boards

PART 2
NIUE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNT

8 Public money to be kept in Government Account
9 Government Account
10 Power of investment
11 Money collected for private persons
12 Deposits and trust money
13 Unclaimed deposits and trust money

PART 3
APPROPRIATION OF PUBLIC MONEY

14-18 [Repealed]
19 Over-expenditure of items
20 [Repealed]
21 Payments for which no specific appropriation

PART 4
THE PAYMENT OF PUBLIC MONEY

22 Authority for payment
23 Imprests
24 [Repealed]
24A Rounding off transactions

PART 5
ANNUAL ACCOUNTS

25 Financial Secretary to furnish

PART 6
OFFENCES

26 False declarations
27 Neglect to pay money into account
28 Failure to appear for examination or produce accounts
29 General penalty
30 Fines recoverable

PART 7
GENERAL PROVISIONS

31-31A [Repealed]
32 Succession in case of death or bankruptcy
33 [Repealed]
34 Recovery of money not accounted for
35 Financial Secretary’s instructions
36 Regulations and rules
37 Irrecoverable losses
38 Public stores

PART 8
PUBLIC SECURITIES

39 Custodians
40 Annual statement of investments
41 Taking and release of securities to the Crown
42 Expenditure for protection of public securities

PART 9
SURCHARGES

43 Meaning of a "deficiency or loss"
44 Deficiency or loss of public money or public stores
45 Surcharge
46 Appeal to High Court
47 Set-off

_____________________

To make provision for the control of public moneys and public securities of Niue

1 Short title

This is the Public Revenues Act 1959.

2 Interpretation

In this Act –

"accounting officer" means any person who by any enactment, or appointment is required to render any account, or who is charged with the duty of collecting or receiving, or who does actually collect or receive, any public money, or who is charged with the duty of disbursing, or who does actually disburse, any public money, or who is charged with the receipt, custody or disposal of or the accounting for public stores or other public property;

"imprestee" means a person in whose hands any public money is placed for expenditure in the public service;

"public money" means money or securities of any kind for the payment of money, received for or on account of, or payable, or belonging to, or deposited with the Government or any Department or agency of the Government, and includes public securities;

"public securities" means securities representing the investment of any public moneys;

"public stores" means chattels, machinery, livestock, or buildings in the possession of or under the control of any person or department on account of the Government.

PART 1
THE TREASURY

3 Administration of Act

Subject to the direction of Cabinet, the Financial Secretary shall be charged with the administration of this Act.

4 Appointment of Financial Secretary

On the occurrence from any cause of a vacancy in the office of Financial Secretary (whether by reason of death, resignation, or otherwise) and in the case of absence from duty of the Financial Secretary (from whatever cause arising) and so long as any such vacancy or absence continues, the Public Service Commission may appoint an officer of the public service to act as Financial Secretary and such officer shall have and may exercise all the powers, duties and functions of the Financial Secretary and the fact that he exercises such powers, duties and functions shall be conclusive evidence of his authority to do so.

5 Financial Secretary may delegate

(1) The Financial Secretary may in writing either generally or particularly, delegate to such officer or officers of the Treasury as he thinks fit all or any of the power exercisable by him under this or any other Act, but not including this present power of delegation.

(2) Subject to any general or special directions given or conditions attached by the Financial Secretary, the officer to whom any powers are delegated under this section may exercise those powers in the same manner and with the same effect as if they had been conferred upon him directly by this section and not by delegation.

(3) Any person purporting to act under any delegation under this section shall be presumed to be acting in accordance with the terms of the delegation in the absence of proof to the contrary.

(4) Any delegation under this section may be made to a specified officer or to officers of a specified class, or may be made to the holder or holders for the time being of a specified office or class of offices.

(5) Every delegation under this section shall be revocable at will and no such delegation shall prevent the exercise of any power by the Financial Secretary.

(6) Every such delegation shall, until revoked, continue in force according to its tenor, notwithstanding the fact that the Financial Secretary by whom it was made may have ceased to hold office, and shall continue to have effect as if made by the successor in office of that Financial Secretary.

6 Accounting officers

(1) The Financial Secretary by writing under his hand, either generally or particularly authorise any accounting officer stationed within or outside Niue to receive any public moneys, and to give any receipts or acknowledgements in respect of any such money and to endorse any cheque, draft, bill or other negotiable instrument received in respect of such money.

(2) Any accounting officer receiving any money under any authority conferred upon him by the Financial Secretary shall pay the money into such bank or to the credit of such account as the Financial Secretary directs.

(3) Subject to any general or special directions given or conditions attached by the Financial Secretary, an accounting officer on whom authority is conferred under this section may exercise that authority in the same manner and with the same effect as if it had been conferred on him directly by this section and not by delegation.

(4) Every person purporting to act under any authority under this section shall be presumed to be acting under the terms of the authority in the absence of proof to the contrary.

(5) Any authority under this section may be given to a specified officer or to officers of a specified class, or may be given to the holder or holders for the time being of a specified office or class of offices.

(6) Every authority given under this section shall be revoked at will, and no such authority shall prevent the exercise of any power by the Financial Secretary.

(7) Every such authority shall, until revoked, continue in force according to its tenor, notwithstanding the fact that the Financial Secretary by whom it was given may have ceased to hold office, and shall continue to have effect as if made by the successor in office of that Financial Secretary.

7 Financial Secretary to be member of boards

(1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other Act, the Financial Secretary shall be deemed to be a member of any board or other body of which Cabinet directs the Financial Secretary shall be a member, being a board or other body charged with the control of investment of public money or of any other money administered by any department of the Government.

(2) In the absence of the Financial Secretary from any meeting of any such board or other body, he may authorise any other officer of the Treasury to attend the meeting in his stead. The fact that any other officer of the Treasury attends and acts as a member of any board at any meeting shall be conclusive proof of his authority to do so.

PART 2
NIUE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNT

8 Public money is to be kept in Government Account

(1) All public money is the property of Government and shall, except as herein otherwise provided, be kept in one account called the Niue Government Account.

(2) The Financial Secretary may authorise the payment of any public money to a bank account either by way of fixed deposit or current account.

(3) All money paid into the Niue Government Account or into any bank account shall be deemed to be public money, the property of Her Majesty, or to be money lent by Her Majesty to the Bank, and may not be removed from it except as provided in this Act.

9 Government Account

The Niue Government Account shall consist of –

(a) The Appropriation Account comprising the accounts of all departments of the Government to which shall be carried the revenues of Niue;

(b) Every separate fund, account, or subsidiary account which by any Act, or regulation is directed to form part of the Niue Government Account or which, after notice to the Audit Office, the Financial Secretary may open and keep with intent to make better provision for accounting for money in the Niue Government Account.

10 Power of investment

(1) The Financial Secretary may invest or cause to be invested any balance of the Niue Government Account, or any part of it, and may sell and convert or cause to be sold and converted into money, any securities obtained through such investments.

(2) Any investments made under this section shall be for such periods as may be determined by the Financial Secretary and shall be by way of fixed deposit with a bank in New Zealand, or by deposit in a Post Office Savings Bank, or in such securities as are authorised in New Zealand for the investment of public money.

(3) All such investments shall be charged against a separate account to be called the Niue Assembly Cash Investment Account, and the interest earned on it shall be credited to the Niue Government Account and credited to such funds or accounts within the Niue Government Account as the Financial Secretary determines.

(4) All money received upon the sale or conversion of any security or upon the expiration of the period or periods for which money is placed on fixed deposit at a bank shall be credited to the Niue Assembly Cash Investment Account and shall become part of the general funds of the Niue Government Account unless invested for a specific purpose when the money shall be applied for that purpose.

11 Money collected for private persons

(1) Whenever, by virtue of any agreement made by the Government and any person or body, money due to that person or body is collected by the Financial Secretary, or by some officer acting on his behalf, that money shall be deemed to be and shall be dealt with as public money within the meaning of this Act; and that money or so much of it as becomes payable shall without further appropriation than this section, be issued and paid to that person in such proportions, in such manner, and at such times as may be set forth in such agreement.

(2) The Government shall not be liable to any such person for any money so payable into the Niue Government Account or into any separate Fund or account, except for money actually collected under any such agreement.

12 Deposits and trust money

(1) The following shall be deemed to be public money within the meaning of this Act –

(a) Money deposited with any accounting officer pending the completion of a transaction whereby the money may become payable to the Government or repayable to the depositor or any other person;

(b) Money paid into Court by virtue of any Act, rule or authority whatsoever;

(c) Money payable to the Government in trust for any purpose.

(2) All such money shall be either paid into the Niue Government Account or otherwise dealt with and accounted for by the person having custody of it as the Financial Secretary, subject to this Act and to any rules made under it, directs.

(3)

(a) The Financial Secretary may, without further authority than this section, invest any particular sum or sums of such public money by way of deposit with the Post Office Savings Bank or with any bank in Niue.

(b) The investment of any such sum or sums and the period of investment shall be at the absolute discretion of the Financial Secretary and no person shall have any right of action against him or against the Government in respect of the investment or the non investment of any such money.

(c) When any such sum or sums become repayable to the depositor or other person entitled to it there shall be added the amount of the interest certified by the Financial Secretary to have been earned .

(d) The Financial Secretary may reduce the amount of interest so payable by the reasonable cost of arranging or administering the investment.

13 Unclaimed deposits and trust money

Every sum of public money to which section 12 relates which is unclaimed for a period of one year after having become payable to the depositor or other person entitled to it shall, with accrued interest (if any) on it, be transferred to and form part of the Niue Government Account; but the Financial Secretary may issue and pay the same at any time to any claimant who establishes his claim to it to the satisfaction of the Financial Secretary.

PART 3
APPROPRIATION OF PUBLIC MONEY

14-18 [Repealed by 2004/270]

19 Over expenditure of items

(1) Where the head of any department of the Government is of the opinion that the amount provided in the estimates for any item will be insufficient to meet expenditure chargeable to that item, he shall report the particulars to the Financial Secretary who, having regard to the circumstances of the case, may authorise the over-expenditure of the amount provided for that item.

(2) No approval given under this section shall in itself authorise a department to overspend the amount appropriated to any vote.

20 [Repealed by 2004/270]

21 Payments for which no specific appropriation

When any vote specified in an Appropriation Act contains an item for contingencies, that item shall be deemed to be an appropriation for expenditure on purposes other than those of the other items of the vote.

PART 4
THE PAYMENT OF PUBLIC MONEY

22 Authority for payment

The annual Appropriation Act shall be the authority for the payment of money from the Niue Government Account.

23 Imprests

(1) Public money may be issued by way of imprest from the Niue Government Accounts to such officers or to such accounts as the Financial Secretary authorises for the payment of amounts payable by the Government.

(2) The Financial Secretary may in such cases as he thinks fit authorise an imprest or official account to be opened and operated in the name of an officer, either personally or by his official designation or in the name of an officer.

(3) With the prior approval in writing of the Financial Secretary more than one officer may be authorised to operate on any such account.

24 [Repealed by 2004/270]

24A Rounding off transactions

(1)

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act or any other Act, the Financial Secretary may, when levying any fee, levy, duty or impost, or making any assessment, or payment, round off the total amount charged, levied, assessed or paid (as the case may be) to the nearest multiple of 5 cents.

(b) Any amount rounded off under this section shall be rounded off in favour of the person so charged, levied, assessed, or paid.

(2) Where under subsection (1) any amount is paid to any person in excess of the amount which, but for this section, that person shall have been entitled to, such excess amount shall be deemed to have been written off as if it were written off under section 37.

PART 5
ANNUAL ACCOUNTS

25 Financial Secretary to furnish

(1) As soon as possible after the close of the financial year, the Financial Secretary shall furnish to Cabinet a statement of receipts and payments for that year together with separate income and expenditure accounts and balance sheets for such activities, institutions or services of a commercial nature as Cabinet directs.

(2) Subject to the concurrence of the Audit Office, Cabinet may direct that the commercial accounts and balance sheets prepared in terms of subsection (1) shall be made up as at such date as he thinks fit.

(3) Such annual accounts are to be transmitted forthwith to the Audit Office and, when finally certified by the Audit Office, are to be presented to the Assembly together with the report of the Audit Office on them.

PART 6
OFFENCES

26 False declarations

Every person who makes any declaration or gives any certificate required to be made or given by this Act, or by any regulations or rules made under it, knowing it to be false, shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment or a term not exceeding 6 months or to a fine not exceeding 2 penalty units, or to both.

27 Neglect to pay money into account

(1) Every person who refuses or neglects to pay any public money into the account into which it is payable shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding 2 penalty units.

(2) Every person who refuses or neglects to make any return or furnish any account, vouchers, or other papers which he is required to make or furnish under this Act, or under any rules or regulations made under it, shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding 0.5 penalty units.

28 Failure to appear for examination or produce accounts

Every person who fails to attend at the time and place required of him by any person under this Act for the purpose of being examined, or who fails to produce any accounts, books, vouchers, or papers in his possession or under his control which he is so required to produce, or who refuses to be sworn or to answer any lawful question shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding 2 penalty units.

29 General penalty

Every person who is guilty of any wilful act of commission or omission contrary to any provision of this Act for which no penalty is expressly provided shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding 1 penalty unit.

30 Fines recoverable

All fines incurred under this Act shall, except where it is otherwise expressly provided, be recovered upon the information of any person appointed by Cabinet in that behalf either generally or in any particular case.

PART 7
GENERAL PROVISIONS

31-31A [Repealed by 2004/270]

32 Suppression in case of death or bankruptcy

On the death, resignation or removal of any accounting officer the balances remaining at the credit of his public or official account shall on the appointment of his successor vest in and be transferred to the public or official account of the successor, or otherwise dealt with as the Financial Secretary directs; and on the death, bankruptcy, or insolvency of any such accounting officer those balances shall not constitute assets of his estate or be in any manner subject to the control of his legal representative, assignee, or trustee.

33 [Repealed]

34 Recovery of money not accounted for

Every accounting officer or person into whose hands or under whose control any public money or stores come shall be deemed to owe to the Government all such money or the value of all such stores for which he has not accounted in such manner as the Financial Secretary may direct; and all such money or the value of all such stores shall be recoverable as money due to the Crown.

35 Financial Secretary’s instructions

All accounting officers and other persons concerned in the collection, receipt, custody or expenditure of public money or stores shall, subject to the provisions of this Act and to any rules or regulations made under it, observe instructions issued by the Financial Secretary with respect to public money or public stores or to accounting for the same.

36 Regulations and rules

Cabinet may make all such rules or regulations as it deems necessary or expedient for the purpose of giving full effect to this Act and for the due administration of it, and in particular for all or any of the following purposes –

(a) For regulating the collection, receipt, custody, banking, issue, expenditure, care and management of public money, and generally for the guidance of all persons concerned with it;

(b) For regulating the purchase, safe custody, issue, sale or other disposal, or writing off of public stores and for rendering accounts of public stores.

37 Irrecoverable losses

(1) Except as provided by this section the authority of the Assembly shall be obtained before any losses of public money or stores are finally written off:

Provided that this section shall not apply to any money the payment of which has been remitted under any statutory authority or by any Court or other tribunal or to any normal and unavoidable losses of stores.

(2) If any dispute arises as to what constitutes a normal and unavoidable loss in respect of any stores or class of stores for the purpose of this section, the decision of Cabinet shall be binding on all parties.

38 Public stores

This Act, and of any regulations or instructions made under it in their application to public money with any necessary modifications apply to public stores.

PART 8
PUBLIC SECURITIES

39 Custodians

The Financial Secretary and one other person to be appointed by Cabinet shall be the custodians of public securities.

40 Annual statement of investments

(1) There shall be included in the annual accounts for each financial year a statement of public securities showing details of public securities held at the commencement of that financial year, acquired or disposed of during that year and held at the close of it.

(2) Such statement shall be presented to the Niue Assembly together with the annual accounts when audited.

41 Taking and release of securities to the Crown

(1) Wherever security is taken in respect of an advance of public money, unless any enactment provides otherwise, the security shall be given to or taken in the name of Her Majesty.

(2) Where any security is vested in Her Majesty Cabinet may, on behalf of Her Majesty, exercise any powers, functions, and rights (including any power of disposal) and undertake and perform any liabilities, in respect of or in connection with the security which could be exercised, undertaken or performed by Her Majesty.

42 Expenditure for protection of public securities

(1)

(a) Subject to this section, money may be expended out of any fund or account of the Niue Government Account for the protection, preservation and improvement of any real or personal property on the security of which any money in that fund or account has been lawfully invested.

(b) The authority conferred by this section may be exercised notwithstanding the prior exercise in respect of the mortgaged property of any power of sale or of entry into possession.

(2) The authority conferred by this section shall extend to authorise the expenditure out of any fund or account as aforesaid of money required for the planting of any land, the employment of labour on it, the making of further advances to mortgagors, the carrying on of any farming business, and for such other purposes as may be considered necessary to prevent or minimise any loss on the realisation of any securities as aforesaid.

(3) All money expended under this section shall be paid out of money appropriated for the purpose by the Assembly.

(4) No amount shall be expended under this section in respect of any property without the specific approval of Cabinet.

(5) This section is in addition to and not in substitution for any powers or authorities conferred otherwise than by or under this section.

PART 9
SURCHARGES

43 Meaning of "deficiency or loss"

In this Part, "deficiency or loss" means –

(a) Any deficiency or loss of, or failure to fully and properly account for, public money or public stores, by reason of –

(i) The wilful or negligent omission of any person or persons to collect, receive, or account for any public money or public stores; or

(ii) The application and charging of any public money to any service or purpose for which it was not legally available or applicable; or

(iii) The payment of any public money without proper authority or without being properly vouchered; or

(iv) The failure to comply with any enactment or any rules or instructions made or issued pursuant to any enactment;

(b) Any deficiency or loss of public money or public stores, or expenditure of public money, or damage to public stores, or expenditure for the replacement or repair of public stores caused through –

(i) The fraud, default or neglect, or improper or unauthorised use by any person or persons;

(ii) The failure of any person or persons to comply with any enactment, or any rules or instructions made or issued under any enactment.

44 Deficiency or loss of public money or public stores

Where there has been a deficiency or loss of public money or public stores, the permanent head or administrative head, as the case may be, of the Government department or Government agency responsible for the money or stores shall, as soon as practicable after the deficiency or loss occurs, report the matter to the Financial Secretary.

45 Surcharge

(1) If it appears to the Financial Secretary that there has been any deficiency or loss in respect of any public money or public stores, the Financial Secretary may, by notice in writing require any person who appears to the Financial Secretary to be in default or responsible for such deficiency or loss, to show cause why he should not be surcharged with the amount of deficiency or loss.

(2) Every notice given under subsection (1) shall –

(i) Specify the amount of the surcharge; and

(ii) Include a statement of the grounds on which it is considered the person is liable to be surcharged; and

(iii) State the date (being a date not less than 14 days from the date of the notice) by which the person is required to show cause why he should not be surcharged.

(3) Where any amount of any deficiency or loss cannot be accurately determined, the Financial Secretary may estimate the deficiency or loss and, in the absence of proof to the contrary, that estimate shall for all purposes be deemed to be correct.

(4) On receipt of an explanation by a person who has been required to show cause why he should not be surcharged, or, where the Financial Secretary is satisfied on reasonable grounds that the notice given under subsection (1) has been received by the person, then in default of any such explanation, the Financial Secretary shall, if he considers that the circumstances warrant it –

(a) Surcharge the person for the amount of the deficiency or loss or such lesser amount as he thinks fit; and

(b) Notify the person surcharged in writing of the date by which the surcharge must be satisfied.

(5) Where the Financial Secretary is of the opinion that 2 or more persons are responsible for any deficiency or loss, he may surcharge each person for the full amount of the deficiency or loss, and in that event, those persons shall be jointly and severally liable for such amount.

(6) The Financial Secretary may revoke, or reduce the amount of any surcharge made under this section.

(7) The amount of any unsatisfied surcharge under this section shall be a debt due to the Crown by the person surcharged, and may be recovered accordingly in the Court, or by way of set-off as provided for in section 47.

(8) If the Financial Secretary so directs, no money (other than salary or wages) payable to or claimed by a person surcharged under this section shall be paid to him by the Crown until the surcharge has been satisfied.

(9) Nothing in this section shall prevent the recovery without surcharge from any person liable to be surcharged, of the amount of any deficiency or loss, or of such part of it as the Financial Secretary thinks fit, as a debt due to the Crown.

(10) All money recovered under this section shall be paid into the account which suffered the deficiency or loss in respect of which the surcharge was made.

46 Appeal to High Court

Any person who has been surcharged under section 45(4)(b), and who is dissatisfied with the surcharge, may within 21 days after the date of service on him of notice of the surcharge, appeal to the High Court which, after making such investigation as it deems equitable, may make such order as the Court thinks fit either confirming the surcharge, or directing the relief of the appellant from it either wholly or in part in such manner as the Court may direct.

47 Set-off

(1) Where –

(a) Under section 45 the Financial Secretary has surcharged any person; or

(b) Any person owes any sum of money to the Government or any agency of the Government and such sum is overdue for payment, and such person is entitled to be paid any money by the Crown or any agency of the Government, the Financial Secretary may without further authority than this section, where any surcharge remains unsatisfied or such sum remains overdue for payment, set-off any sum to which the person is so entitled against the amount surcharged or overdue as the case may be, either in one sum or by deduction over a period of time, and shall send to the person a statement of the amount or amounts so set-off.

(2) For the purposes of this section, a sum of money shall, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, be deemed to be overdue for payment when it has been due and owing for a period of 3 months.

(3) Notwithstanding section 45 (8) a set-off under this section may be made against salary or wages, provided the amount so set-off does not exceed 20 per cent in any one pay period of the net amount after income tax of such salary or wages.