Bosanac v Commissioner of Taxation of the Commonwealth of Australia & Ors

The applicant, Mr Bosanac, sought to appeal against decisions of the Commissioner of Taxation. The proceedings involved the Commissioner of Taxation, the Federal Court of Australia constituted by Justice Steward, and the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia constituted by Justices Greenwood, Burley, and Colvin. The dispute concerned the correct assessment of tax liabilities for several years, specifically focusing on the effect of conclusive evidence provisions and the burden of proof in tax appeals.

The central legal issue before the High Court was the interpretation of section 50-10 of the *Taxation Administration Act 1953* (Cth) (formerly section 177 of the *Income Tax Assessment Act 1936* (Cth) and section 39 of the *Income Tax Assessment Act 1922* (Cth)), which provides that a notice of assessment is conclusive evidence of its correctness, and section 14ZZO of the *Taxation Administration Act 1953* (Cth) (formerly section 190(b)), which deals with the burden of proof on a taxpayer appealing an assessment. The applicant argued that the relevant assessment for the purpose of these provisions was the "further amended assessment" that arose after an objection decision, rather than the assessment that was initially objected to.

The applicant's argument, supported by references to *Federal Commissioner of Taxation v Dalco* (1987) 168 CLR 614 and *Federal Commissioner of Taxation v ANZ* (1994) 181 CLR 466, was that where a Commissioner allows an objection in part and issues a further amended assessment, that further amended assessment becomes the operative assessment. Consequently, the conclusive evidence provisions and the burden of proof provisions apply to the amounts contained within this subsequent assessment. The applicant contended that the court's jurisdiction was engaged by the appeal against this further amended assessment, and the taxpayer was not limited to the original grounds of objection if the Commissioner introduced new elements of liability in the objection decision. The applicant further submitted that the notice of appeal specifically identified the amounts in the Commissioner's objection decision and the resulting further amended assessments as the subject of the dispute.