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Date of judgement | 12 May 2020 |
Proceeding No. | 2019/00301452 |
Judge(s) | S E Frost, Senior Member |
Court or Tribunal | NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal |
First Home Owner Grant; New Home; Duties Act s.49
B&L Linings Pty Ltd v Chief Commissioner of State Revenue (2008) 74 NSWLR 481
Cornish Investments Pty Limited v Chief Commissioner of State Revenue [2013] NSWADTAP 25
Wang v Chief Commissioner of State Revenue [2016] NSWCATAD 61
The applicants owned property situated in Box Hill (“the Property”) which they claimed is used for primary production purposes and is therefore exempt from land tax. The Chief Commissioner assessed the applicants for land tax every year since at least 2000, rejecting the claim for an exemption.
In 2013 the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal (“the ADT”) confirmed the land tax assessments for the 2007 to 2011 land tax years, rejecting the claim for an exemption The decision was upheld in appeals to the Appeal Panel of the ADT and to the Court of Appeal.
The Applicants unsuccessfully objected to the 2015 and 2016 assessments, but have otherwise not objected to the land tax levied on the Property.
In May 2019, the applicants’ son lodged separate objections to the land tax assessments for each of the land tax years from 2011 to 2019 inclusive on the basis that the Property was exempt as it was used for primary production purposes (“the Objections”).
The Chief Commissioner advised the applicants that:
The applicants filed an application for review with the Tribunal in respect of the 2011 to 2019 land tax assessments. The Chief Commissioner agreed that the Tribunal had jurisdiction to review the 2019 land tax assessment but sought to have the applications dismissed for the remaining assessments due to a lack of jurisdiction.
Part 10 of the Taxation Administration Act 1996 (“the TA Act”) contains the relevant provisions for objecting to or appealing land tax assessments of the Chief Commissioner. By way of summary, the relevant provisions of Pt. 10 provide:
The applicants did not file any written submissions prior to the hearing and did not appear at the hearing. However, from the content of the Objections lodged with the Chief Commissioner, the Tribunal identified that the applicants claimed that certain land tax assessments were not received, that applications for exemptions were lodged but no response received and that the Property was vested in the Official Trustee in Bankruptcy until 2018 (at [37]–[40]).
The Chief Commissioner submitted that the Tribunal lacked jurisdiction to entertain a review of any decisions concerning the 2011 to 2018 land tax years.
The Tribunal determined that it lacked jurisdiction to entertain a review of the land tax assessments for the 2011 to 2018 land tax years because:
On the basis of those findings, the Tribunal decided that the most appropriate way to dispose of the applications was to dismiss the proceedings, to the extent that they relate to the land tax years 2011 to 2018 inclusive, under s. 55(1)(b) of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013 (“the CAT Act”) as the applications in respect of those years were lacking in substance (at [71]-[72]).
Applications in respect of the 2011 to 2018 land tax years inclusive dismissed under s. 55(1)(b) of the CAT Act.
https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/5eb893dbe4b0f66047ed9045