Legal decisions - case notes: Case notes 2007
List of cases
In this section you will find brief notes of decisions made by the Taxation Review Authority, the High Court, Court of Appeal, Privy Council and the Supreme Court. These case notes do not set out Inland Revenue policy, nor do they represent our attitude to the decision.
| Title | Decision date | Case | Appeal status |
The Commissioner obtains interim charging order and mareva injunction over trust assets |
11 October 2007 |
The Commissioner of Inland Revenue v Joseph Colin Skudder, Willerton Investments Limited, Athena Professional Trustees Limited |
The Commissioner obtained an interim mareva injunction and pre-judgment charging orders over assets held by a corporate trustee, which were prima facie beneficially owned by the taxpayer. Not appealed. |
Court of Appeal upholds TRA's tax avoidance findings for property development |
25 June 2007 |
Ch'elle Properties (NZ) Limited v The Commissioner of Inland Revenue |
An arrangement in terms of whether there were gaps of up to 20 years between the right to claim input tax and the liability for output tax was held to be tax avoidance. Appealed. |
Unsuccessful appeal from the Commissioner of Inland Revenue's strike-out application |
18 June 2007 |
Ron West Motors (Otahuhu) Limited v The Commissioner of Inland Revenue |
An unsuccessful attempt by the taxpayer to force The Commissioner of Inland Revenue to accept a late objection. The Commissioner declined to accept the late objections (and thus did not allow them) on the basis he had no power to re-assess in the relevant years anyway as those years had been determined by the Courts. Appealed. |
13 June 2007 |
The Commissioner of Inland Revenue v Philip John Duncan |
A Trustee may not after being bankrupted, continue to trade and incur debts with impunity from liability for GST. If he chooses to do so he incurs a fresh liability that is not provable in his bankrupt estate. Appealed. |
|
11 June 2007 |
Accent Management Ltd, Ben Nevis Forestry Ventures Ltd, Bristol Forestry Ventures Ltd, Clive Bradbury, Greenmass Ltd, Gregory Peebles, Kenneth Laird Estate, Lexington Resources Ltd and Redcliffe Forestry Ventures Ltd v The Commissioner of Inland Revenue |
The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and upheld the High Court's refusal to recall the judgment. Appealed. |
|
11 June 2007 |
Accent Management Ltd, Ben Nevis Forestry Ventures Ltd, Bristol Forestry Ventures Ltd, Clive Bradbury, Greenmass Ltd, Gregory Peebles, Kenneth Laird Estate, Lexington Resources Ltd, and Redcliffe Forestry Ventures Ltd v The Commissioner of Inland Revenue |
The Court of Appeal has dismissed the taxpayers appeal and upheld the finding that the Trinity Forestry arrangement is a tax avoidance scheme. Appealed. |
|
Service of Notice of Response sent to incorrect address sufficient |
08 June 2007 |
The Commissioner of Inland Revenue v LGH Thompson |
This was an appeal against the decision of a Taxation Review Authority, AAP Willy, in which he held the taxpayer was entitled to deregister for GST purposes. Appealed. |
26 April 2007 |
Manu Chhotubhai Bhanabhai & Ors v The Commissioner of Inland Revenue |
The Supreme Court refused leave to appeal the Court of Appeal's Judgment holding that the solicitor had breached the undertaking given to the Commissioner. The Court of Appeal did not make an error in principle. Appealed. |
|
03 April 2007 |
Peter Lloyd Machirus v The Commissioner of Inland Revenue |
The High Court dismissed the taxpayer's appeal and upheld the assessments and found there was no breach of the Bill of Rights Act. He further upheld the Commissioner's cross-appeal and held that the Taxation Review Authority erred in finding certain assessments statute-barred. Appealed. |
|
28 February 2007 |
Decision Number 4/2007 |
When requested to waive the requirement for a tax invoice under section 24(6)(b) of the GST Act the Commissioner must apply the two limbs of the test at the time he makes his determination. A waiver under section 24(6) cannot operate retrospectively. Not appealed. |
|
23 November 2007 |
TRA Decision Number 14/07 |
The taxpayer is allowed a deduction in the income tax year which the expenditure is incurred. Expenditure is incurred when the taxpayer is definitively committed to the expenditure, a legal obligation to make payment in the future has accrued, the expenditure must be more than impending, threatened or expected and theoretical contingencies can be disregarded. The taxpayer did not incur the expenditure (accounting fees for the 2003 financial statements and returns of income) until 2004 and accordingly, could only deduct those fees in 2004 - not 2003 as claimed. Not appealed. |
|
30 August 2007 |
K & W Wynyard & Fox Trust v The Commissioner of Inland Revenue |
The taxpayer was unsuccessful is seeking indemnity or increased costs from the Commissioner. Not appealed. |
|
31 July 2007 |
Decision 11/2007 |
The calculation of the time frame for filing a case stated with the TRA commences when a points of objection notice is received by the Director Litigation Management Unit and not by its receipt by the wider Inland Revenue Department. Not appealed. |
|
04 July 2007 |
Sandra Hineato Anderson v The Commissioner of Inland Revenue |
The taxpayer claimed that the Commissioner has assessed her as being liable for shortfall penalties for tax evasion due to the fact that an Inland Revenue officer had given her incorrect advice as to how to complete ten GST returns and a business cessation form. The Court found that no such advice was given and the claim of abuse of process had not been made out. Furthermore, the allegation that the Commissioner failed to follow due process in investigating his own role in relation to the completion of the GST forms and business cessation form had not been proved. Not appealed. |
|
30 July 2007 |
Max Beckham v The Commissioner of Inland Revenue |
The TRA upheld the taxpayer's challenge to the Commissioner's assessment but then assessed an alternative ground. The High Court dismissed the taxpayer's appeal against the TRA's decision. Not appealed. |
|
30 August 2007 |
Peter Lloyd Machirus v The Commissioner of Inland Revenue |
The taxpayer was late to file the appeal due to the fact that he initially did not pay the filing fee and later the appeal was not in the prescribed form.The Commissioner opposed the special leave application to file out of time. Appealed. |
|
31 October 2007 |
Dowell & Ors as trustee for Estate Frank King, Brenda King & Ann King v The Commissioner of Inland Revenue |
Taxpayers' share trading activities held to be on capital account. Appealed. |
|
17 October 2007 |
The Commissioner of Inland Revenue v Blakeley |
Non-disclosure right did not apply to a list of names and that list must be provided to the Commissioner under section 17 of the TAA. Not appealed. |
|
06 September 2007 |
Ch'elle Properties (NZ) Limited v The Commissioner of Inland Revenue |
The taxpayer had claimed GST input tax credits on a total of 117 property transactions. Payment to the vendor was by way of a small deposit with the remainder payable on settlement. The difference in registration types (payment and invoice) between the parties saw the taxpayer claiming an input credit on the entire purchase price whilst the vendor only paid output tax on the deposit paid. The Commissioner considered the arrangement was set up for the tax advantages it could obtain and alleged tax avoidance under section 76 of the GST Act. The TRA, High Court and Court of Appeal all agreed with the Commissioner. Appealed. |
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31 August 2007 |
Amaltal Fishing Co Ltd v The Commissioner of Inland Revenue |
The taxpayer appealed the decision of the Authority which declined to grant leave to commence proceedings out of time, on the basis that no exceptional circumstances existed. Appealed. |
|
30 August 2007 |
Decision Number 13/2007 |
Part VIII of the Tax Administration Act 1994 ("TAA"), the objections procedure, applies to assessments issued after 1 April 1995 and before 1 October 1996. The TRA has no jurisdiction to award costs or damages. Not appealed. |
|
21 February 2007 |
Diana Balich v The Commissioner of Inland Revenue |
The High Court found the Commissioner had made a reviewable error in the process by which he reached his decision not to accept a late notice of proposed adjustment under section 89K. However, the High Court declined to grant relief to the taxpayer due to the futility of her underlying arguments. Not appealed. |
|
Application for leave to commence proceedings after expiry of response period dismissed |
02 March 2007 |
Decision Number 5/2007 |
The applicant sought leave from the Authority to commence proceedings out of time, on the grounds exceptional circumstances applied. The Authority decided that no exceptional circumstances existed and dismissed the application. Not appealed. |
18 July 2007 |
Ch'elle Properties (NZ) Limited v The Commissioner of Inland Revenue |
The taxpayer appealed the High Court decision to strike out its application for judicial review of the Commissioner's actions. The allegations against the Commissioner included illegality in withholding refunds; retrieving refunds accidentally paid; negligence; breach of statutory duty and not complying with the Bill of Rights Act. Appealed. |
|
13 December 2007 |
The Commissioner of Inland Revenue v J A Reid & Ors |
The plaintiff alleged misfeasance in public office against the Commissioner in relation to the tax investigation and SFO referral of the plaintiff's investment scheme. The Commissioner's application to strike out the proceedings was denied by the High Court. He appealed to the Court of Appeal. Appealed. |
Note: We are currently converting historical case notes into HTML format. If you are looking for case notes that are not published here you may find them by referring to the Tax Information Bulletin.
Date published: 17 Jul 2006
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