EQUITY — Equitable remedies — Injunctions — interlocutory injunction — damages not an adequate remedy — the defendant, the Chief Commissioner, issues a director’s compliance notice to the plaintiff under the apparent authority of the Taxation Administration Act 1996 ("TAA") s 47B — the directors’ compliance notice is issued on 9 July 2026 and would become operative within 21 days under TAA s 47B — the plaintiff disputes the validity of the notice and seeks interlocutory relief restraining the defendant from acting upon it — the defendant resists any grant of interlocutory relief.
TAXES AND DUTIES — Administration — Collection and recovery — Recovery pending review — discussion that when a taxpayer brings administrative law remedies rather than proceedings under TAA Part 10, whether a pending review of a payroll tax liability does not prevent the Chief Commissioner in the meantime from collecting the amount due and payable.
Quick Take
1The policy that a pending review of a tax liability does not prevent the Chief Commissioner from collecting the amount due and payable applies equally where the taxpayer pursues administrative law remedies (such as a declaration of nullity) rather than the statutory objection and review process under TAA Part 10; to hold otherwise would promote form over substance.
2A plaintiff seeking interlocutory relief to restrain enforcement of a tax liability on grounds of hardship must adduce concrete financial evidence of their circumstances and, where appropriate, offer undertakings not to deal with assets; a bare assertion of 'severe and real prejudice' without supporting evidence is insufficient, even where a serious question to be tried is conceded.
3The question whether TAA s 47B requires a person to have been a director when the assessment was issued, or when the payroll tax first became due, and the proper construction of 'former entity' in PTA s 74A(5), were left open for final hearing.
