The ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal has made a decision concerning the Commissioner of ACT Revenue’s decision to group 18 entities for payroll purposes. The Tribunal concluded the entities constituted a group for payroll tax purposes for the period 1 July 2000 to 30 June 2005, save for 2 entities, which it held should be excluded from the group with effect from 1 July 2000.
- Before the Tribunal, the taxpayers sought to have the entities grouped into 4 new groups.
- In relation one of the 4 groups which comprised the 2 entities, the Tribunal was satisfied that the businesses of those entities were carried on independently and were not connected with any businesses carried on by any other member of the other 3 groups.
- The Tribunal also concluded that the 90% penalty tax that had been imposed by the Commissioner should by reduced to 50%.
- Accordingly, the Tribunal remitted the matter to the Commissioner for recalculation of payroll tax, penalty tax and interest in accordance with its orders.
(HJA Holdings Pty Ltd & Ors v Comr for ACT Revenue (Administrative Review) [2014] ACAT 24, ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal, Spender PM and Chenoweth SM, 24 April 2014.)
[LTN 78, 28/4/14]