Recent Cases

Federal Commissioner of Taxation v Travelex Limited [2021] HCA 8 (10 March 2021) (Kiefel CJ, Gageler, Keane, Gordon and Edelman JJ)


Catchwords:


Taxation – Administration – Goods and services tax – Taxable supply – Running Balance Accounts (“RBA”) – Commissioner’s obligation to pay interest – Where Commissioner lacked statutory authority to amend taxpayer’s GST return – Where net amount in GST return calculated in error – Where Commissioner purported to amend taxpayer’s GST return and credited taxpayer’s RBA – Whether mistaken balance in an RBA is efficacious in law to constitute an RBA surplus within meaning of Pt IIB of Taxation Administration Act 1953 (Cth) – Whether Commissioner obliged to pay interest under Taxation (Interest on Overpayments and Early Payments) Act 1983 (Cth).

Words and phrases – “administration”, “allocation”, “amounts due to the Commonwealth under taxation laws”, “erroneous balances”, “goods and services tax”, “interest”, “RBA”, “RBA deficit debt”, “RBA surplus”, “refund”, “running balance account”, “taxation administration”.