Alyssa Treasury Services Ltd v Deputy Commissioner of Taxation

Alyssa Treasury Services Ltd and its representative, Mr Petroulias, sought leave to appeal a decision made by the Federal Court in relation to a tax objection raised by the Deputy Commissioner of Taxation. The applicants argued that the primary judge’s decision contained errors of law, which led to the proceedings being dismissed as incompetent. The Commissioner contended that any errors made by the primary judge did not result in substantial injustice, as the applicants had the opportunity to challenge the decision through the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The court had to determine whether the primary judge’s failure to provide reasons for the dismissal and the denial of an adjournment constituted substantial injustice and whether this warranted allowing the appeal.

The court found that the primary judge’s decision was indeed attended by sufficient doubt to warrant the grant of leave to appeal. This was because the motion was listed for directions only, and the applicant should have had the opportunity to be re-registered. Additionally, the failure to provide reasons for the dismissal was considered a substantial error as it prevented the court from understanding the basis of the order. However, the subsequent regularisation of the application for review in the tribunal, though not the preferred option for the applicants, was a more challenging factor to weigh in determining substantial injustice. The court acknowledged that while the involuntary deprivation of the right to choose one’s preferred method of challenge could be a substantial injustice, there was no reason to believe that the tribunal’s proceedings would not be fair and would not provide a full opportunity to present the case.

The court dismissed the motion filed by the Commissioner and noted that the Commissioner would not argue in the tribunal proceedings that Alyssa Treasury Services Ltd was not entitled to institute those proceedings due to its re-registration in New Zealand. This acceptance by the Commissioner meant that Alyssa Treasury Services Ltd continued to exist legally as if it had not been deregistered.