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A parking space owner sought a review of our assessment of his parking space levy between 1 July 2010 and 30 June 2015.
They claimed they were entitled to an exemption for parking spaces set aside exclusively for loading or unloading goods or passengers, provided vehicles are not otherwise permitted to park in the space.
We carried out inspections of the loading zone at the premises on several occasions and they found that:
there were vehicles parked in the loading zone
no people or goods were loaded into or unloaded from any of the vehicles parked in the loading zone.
For the loading zone exemption to be available, vehicles must not be ‘permitted’ to park in the space otherwise than for loading or unloading goods or passengers. This would presumably require diligent supervision by the owner, or their agents, to ensure that vehicles were at no time allowed to park in the space other than to load or unload goods or passengers.
The owner did not discharge their onus of proof because, notwithstanding the photos of the signage referring to the parking area as a ‘loading zone’, there was insufficient evidence to prove that vehicles were not permitted to park otherwise than while goods or passengers were being loaded or unloaded.