VPRS 11877 Rate Books

Every year each local council is required to make and levy rates in respect of all rateable properties within its municipal district. The Municipal Institutions Act 1854 (No.26) empowered local councils to make by-laws for the regulation of their own proceedings including the collection of rates. The amount of rate is therefore determined by the council although a statutory limit applies. Rates are the main source of revenue for the council.The rate record is a record of the levying and payment of rates on rateable properties. Apart from the general rate which is levied equally on all properties, a council may levy an extra rate or a special rate. An extra rate may be levied, over and above the general rate, on a subdivision of a municipality to cover expenses occurred in that subdivision. A special rate may be levied when a council undertakes works for the special benefit of a particular portion of the municipality. Separate rate records are maintained for general, extra and special rates and these are therefore registered as separate series.For each rateable property a record is created which identifies the property and person rated and includes details of the annual value of the property, the amounts due, amounts paid, arrears and when rates were abandoned. A complete rate record may comprise two parts: a Register of Rateable Properties and a Rates Register. The Register of Rateable Properties identifies the properties and persons rated and the Rates Register comprises the accounting details. Where these two parts exist they are registered separately.The format of rate records has changed over the years. Initially the levying and payment of rates were recorded in volumes (known as Rate Books) until the introduction of cards (known as Rate Cards) from the 1930s. In the 1980's and 1990's automated systems have mostly been used. Printouts of the automated system are usually produced as the rate record. Series of rate records in different formats are registered separately.

各地方议会每年均须就其市政辖区内的全部应课税物业（rateable properties）核定税率并征收市政税。《1854年市政机构法》（第26号）授权地方议会制定附例，以规范自身运作流程，其中涵盖市政税征收事宜。尽管存在法定上限，市政税的征收额度仍由地方议会确定，而市政税亦是地方议会的主要财政收入来源。
税项记录是指对市政辖区内应课税物业的市政税征收与缴纳情况进行登记的档案。除面向所有物业统一征收的一般税项外，地方议会亦可征收附加税项或专项税项。附加税项可在一般税项之外，针对市政辖区的某一分区征收，用于覆盖该分区产生的相关开支；专项税项则可在地方议会为辖区特定区域开展专项受益工程时征收。地方议会需分别维护一般税项、附加税项及专项税项的税项记录，因此此类记录将作为独立序列进行登记。
针对每一处应课税物业，系统将创建一条专属记录，用于标识该物业及纳税义务人，并包含物业年度估值、应缴税额、已缴税额、欠缴税额以及税项豁免情形等详细信息。一套完整的税项记录可分为两部分：应课税物业登记册与税项登记册。前者用于标识物业及纳税义务人，后者则包含核算明细信息。若该两部分记录均存在，则需分别进行登记。
税项记录的格式多年来历经变迁。在20世纪30年代引入税卡（Rate Cards）之前，市政税的征收与缴纳情况均记录于税簿（Rate Books）中；至20世纪80年代与90年代，自动化系统已得到广泛应用，自动化系统的打印输出件通常即作为税项记录。不同格式的税项记录序列需分别进行登记。