The AAT has affirmed the Commissioner’s decision to disallow the taxpayer’s objection to various GST and income tax assessments.
The taxpayer is registered for GST and runs a taxi business, although he has no direct involvement in running the business instead leaving that to his brothers. The case concerned the ascertainment of the taxpayer’s income over several years, and his liability to GST. Through the use of benchmarks for the taxi industry, the Commissioner determined the taxpayer’s income for the years in question and issued assessments accordingly.
The Tribunal said it was satisfied that the statements and claims made by the taxpayer in lodging his income tax returns and his BAS Statements “led to his being assessed as having a liability to income tax and … GST less than it would otherwise have been”. The Tribunal said that meant they were false or misleading in a material particular and the taxpayer was therefore liable to the imposition of an administrative penalty.
In the result, the Tribunal affirmed the Commissioner’s assessments as follows:
- GST assessments for the quarterly periods ending 30 September 2004 to 31 March 2008;
- income tax amended assessments for the years ending 30 June 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007;
- assessment of administrative penalties ($9,564.50 reduced to $4,782.25) for GST shortfalls ($19,129.00) made on 21 October 2008; and
- assessment of administrative penalties ($19,741.55 reduced to $9,870.70) for income tax shortfalls ($39,483.22) made on 21 November 2008.
(AAT Case [2012] AATA 440, Re Baini and FCT, AAT, Forgie DP, AAT Ref: 2009/2447-2450, 12 July 2012.)
[LTN 134, 13/7]