The Supreme Court of South Australia has dismissed a taxpayer’s appeal against his conviction for failing to lodge income tax returns for the years ending 30 June 2003 to 30 June 2011 inclusive. The taxpayer had been provided with a Final Notice to lodge the returns and, on failing to do so, a Magistrate’s Court subsequently found that the 9 offences with which the taxpayer had been charged under s 8C of the TAA 1953 had been proved.
In dismissing the taxpayer’s appeal, the Court held that his grounds of appeal were not made out, irrelevant or should be rejected in the circumstances. These grounds included whether the Magistrate properly identified the elements of the offence, whether the Magistrate erred in finding that Commissioner had properly delegated his power to institute proceedings, whether the Magistrate erred in finding the prosecution had met the required burden of proof and whether the Final Notice issued to the taxpayer was invalid.
(Hudson v FCT [2016] SASC 145, South Australian Supreme Court, Nicholson J, 2 September 2016.)
[Supreme Court reasons] [LTN 176, 12/9/16]