Crusher Holdings Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Taxes

(1994) 117 FLR 485; [1994] NTSC 82

Supreme Court of the Northern Territory

Built by Barristers,
For Australian Law.

See how it works

Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Taxation
2. › Pay-roll tax
3. › Grouping provisions
4. › Exclusion from group
5. › Whether business carried on substantially independently of and not substantially connected with business of other group member
6. › Commissioner's discretion under s 17H(1)
7. › Whether Commissioner erred by failing to consider nature of businesses
8. › Pay-Roll Tax Act (NT), ss 17D, 17H(1), 35
1. Taxation
2. › Pay-roll tax
3. › Objections and appeals
4. › Appeal from decision of Commissioner of Taxes
5. › Nature of appeal to Supreme Court
6. › Whether appeal by way of rehearing or confined to material before Commissioner
7. › Whether fresh evidence admissible on appeal
8. › Pay-Roll Tax Act (NT), s 35
9. › Supreme Court Rules (NT), O 83
1. Administrative Law
2. › Judicial review of administrative decisions
3. › Appeal from administrative authority to court
4. › Scope of review where statute confers discretion on decision-maker
5. › Whether court exercises original or appellate jurisdiction
6. › Error of law by decision-maker
7. › Failure to take into account relevant consideration

Quick Take

An appeal under s 35 of the Pay-Roll Tax Act (NT) from the Commissioner's refusal to exclude a company from a pay-roll tax group is to be determined on the material before the Commissioner alone; fresh evidence is not admissible. If the Commissioner is found to have erred, the Court reviews the original material and determines the question itself, but does not permit the taxpayer to enhance or supplement its case. The word 'substantially' in s 17H(1) calls for the exercise of judgment, and the section requires both substantial independence and substantial absence of connection to be established. A significant inter-company debt, shared personnel in key roles, and inter-company trading in services may preclude exclusion even where the nature of the businesses is quite different.