Under the carbon pricing mechanism, liable entities that did not surrender enough eligible emissions units to satisfy their liability by 15 June in the reporting year (if they had an interim emissions number) or 1 February following the reporting year, incurred a unit shortfall charge.
The unit shortfall charge was calculated as the difference between the liability and the number of units surrendered by the deadline, which was then multiplied by 130 per cent of the applicable fixed charge. The unit shortfall charge was $29.90 per unit in shortfall for the 2012-13 year and $31.395 per unit in shortfall for the 2013-14 year.
A unit shortfall charge was payable by the sixth business day after the surrender deadlines.
Liable entities that failed to pay the unit shortfall charge by the due date are subject to a late payment penalty equal to 20% per annum of the value of the outstanding shortfall charge.
Estimation error unit shortfall
Liable entities that reported an interim emissions number(IEN) to the Clean Energy Regulator using a reasonable estimate under section 126(4) of the Clean Energy Act 2011, may have incurred an estimation error unit shortfall charge if their IEN was less than 75% of their final emissions number. An estimation error unit shortfall charge was assessed following the submission of final emissions numbers, and was payable by the sixth business day after the final surrender deadline.
Shortfall information
Information about shortfall charges, including the number of units in shortfall, the shortfall charge, and any outstanding charge, was published on the
Liable Entities Public Information Database.
Outstanding shortfall charges are pursued in accordance with Commonwealth debt recovery procedures under the
Public Governance Performance and Accountability Act 2013, and are recoverable in a court of law.