General right to apply for refund
18 General right to apply for refund
A taxpayer may make application for a refund of tax that has been overpaid by the taxpayer.
An application for a refund cannot be made under this section—
more than five years after the taxpayer made the payment to the
Commissioner in respect of which the refund is sought; or
if the Commissioner has previously made an assessment of the tax liability of the taxpayer in respect of the matter in respect of which the payment was made to the Commissioner.
A determination under this section as to whether there has been an overpayment, or as to the amount of an overpayment, is to be made in accordance with the legal interpretations and assessment practices generally applied by the Commissioner in relation to matters of the kind in question at the time the taxpayer made the payment in respect of which the refund is sought except to the extent that any departure from those interpretations and practices is required by legislative change made after the payment.
If the result of determination of an application under this section is that the taxpayer has overpaid tax, the Commissioner must, subject to the other provisions of this Part, refund the amount overpaid.
This section has effect in addition to a provision of another taxation law authorising an application for a refund or requiring the making of a refund.
This Act’s bill:Second reading speech
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