The Appeal Panel of the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal has dismissed a taxpayer’s appeal against an earlier decision which had ruled that the taxpayer was not entitled to a land tax exemption for “land used and occupied as a boarding house” under s 10Q of the Land Tax Management Act 1956 (NSW) for the 2007 tax year.
The Tribunal in Perry Properties Pty Ltd v Comr of State Revenue [2011] NSWADT 145 upheld the Commissioner’s decision on the basis that the taxpayer had not satisfied the rule that at least 80% of the accommodation available to boarding house residents was occupied by “long term residents”, which was defined to mean persons who resided at a boarding house for 3 consecutive months or for any periods totalling 3 months in accordance with the Commissioner’s guidelines and Revenue Ruling LT 78.
The taxpayer submitted that the Tribunal’s interpretation of the 3-month period requirement to mean: within the 2007 tax year was “unduly strict in policy terms”. However, the Appeal Panel was of the view that the scheme “would be impossible to administer without a boundary” and that an “infinite” period to satisfy the 80% threshold at some point in the future would create an incentive for taxpayers to delay filing their returns.
(Perry Properties Pty Ltd v Chief Comr of State Revenue (RD) [2012] NSWADTAP 13, NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal, Appeal Panel, O’Connor P, Frost JM, Schwager NJM, 2 April 2012.)
[LTN 68, 11/4]