A taxpayer has been mostly unsuccessful before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in a matter concerning claims for GST input tax credits.
The Commissioner had denied the taxpayer’s claims for certain input tax credits relating to monthly tax periods ending 31 January 2008 to 30 September 2011 (inclusive). The Commissioner also imposed a penalty at 50% of the shortfall amounts for “recklessness”.
The taxpayer provided some evidence to substantiate some of the claims. The Commissioner also conceded some further claims before the hearing as a result of additional information provided by the taxpayer.
However, the Tribunal noted there remained a significant number of items which were still in dispute due to what the Commissioner asserted was a lack of evidence to support the input tax credit claims. The key items that remained in dispute were grouped into 3 categories: (1) “credit card items”; (2) “Mine Automation Development”; (3) “other disallowed items”.
The Tribunal found there was a lack of evidence to support the disputed claims. It said: “The absence of tax invoices is one thing but a total lack of any evidence of what the specific amounts refer to is another. The [taxpayer] must at the very least provide detail as to who the payment was made to and some indication of what it was paid for.” The Tribunal remitted the matter to the Commissioner to vary the decision to allow for the input tax credits the Commissioner had conceded and to recalculate the penalty, but it otherwise affirmed the Commissioner’s decision. Note the case was released on 9 May 2014.
(AAT Case [2014] AATA 279, Re Yates and FCT, AAT, Ref No: 2013/2651, Deutsch DP, 30 April 2014.)
[LTN 91, 14/5/14]