shopping_cart

Your shopping cart is empty

Interpreting tax legislation - International All Sports v FCT

Taxation in Australia | 1 Nov 11
 
Member Price: $22.00
Non Member Price: $28.00

DisclaimerThis material is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission from The Tax Institute.
Unless expressly stated, opinions are not that of The Tax Institute, which accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of any of the information contained within it.

Published on 01 Nov 11 by "TAXATION IN AUSTRALIA" JOURNAL ARTICLE

Statutory interpretation cases have often turned on the choice between a literal or purposive approach and the application of various common law principles. More recently, the purposive approach, which rejects strict grammatical analysis in favour of a consideration not only of the syntax but also of the policy and the surrounding legislative context of the statute, has become the preferred approach. The recent Federal Court decision in
International All Sports v FCT, a GST case, provides a good example of the now settled approach to statutory interpretation in the tax context.

This article examines the decision in detail and, in particular, how the application of the current approach affected the outcome. Although it is clear that context and purpose should be considered from the outset, the literal reading of a statute will only be diverged from where such considerations lead to an
alternative construction that should be preferred.

Author profile

Keith Swan
Keith Swan is a Partner in KPMG Law’s Tax Dispute Resolution & Controversy team. Keith has over 17 years’ experience specialising in tax disputes and litigation, previously having worked at a Big 4 firm and with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) in its internal litigation team. Keith’s experience includes managing ATO reviews and audits, negotiating favourable settlements, and liaising with the courts and a range of leading tax counsel in litigating matters against the Commissioner of Taxation and State revenue authorities. Keith has also resolved disputes by way of the various Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms that are available in tax matters. His clients have included multinationals, small to medium enterprises and high net wealth individuals. Keith was admitted as a solicitor in NSW in May 2005 and holds a Masters of Taxation from Sydney University. - Current at 21 January 2021
Click here to expand/collapse more articles by Keith Swan.

 

Copyright Statement