This decision concerned an appeal by the Commissioner of Taxation from the decision in Hacon v Commissioner of Taxation [2017] FCA 659. The question was whether the Commissioner was entitled to decline to provide a private ruling to the taxpayers in relation to the Commissioner’s view about the application of Part IVA of the Taxation Administration Act 1953 (Cth) (the Act) to a proposed transaction that the taxpayers intended to implement. The Full Court allowed the appeal, holding that the Commissioner was permitted to decline to provide the ruling because the correctness of the ruling would have depended on assumptions made by the Commissioner about future matters within the meaning of section 357-110 of the Schedule 1 to the Act.
Shane Doyle QC and Michael May appeared for the Respondents, instructed by CopperGraceWard.
The judgment is published here.