Gashi & Anor v FCT – both taxpayer(s) and Commissioner to appeal to the Full Federal Court regarding a decision on default assessments decided on ‘onus’ [33]

The taxpayers (husband and wife) and the Commissioner have lodged notices of appeal to the Full Federal Court against the decision of Jessup J in Gashi & Anor v FCT[2012] FCA 638. It would also appear that the Commissioner has lodged a notice of objection to the competency of the husband’s appeal. The Federal Court found the husband failed to show that the Commissioner’s default assessments concerning unaccounted income were excessive. The Commissioner had assessed each taxpayer’s tax liability at $1.6m and calculated penalties amounting to $1.4m for the years in question. The Court also found the taxpayers were not carrying on a business as partners and were not in receipt of income jointly. However, the Court accepted new evidence of the wife’s assessable income and ordered that the assessments issued by the Commissioner be amended to reflect the new amounts.