Chief Commissioner for Business Franchise (Tobacco) v Pinson Pty Ltd

The Chief Commissioner for Business Franchise (Tobacco) appealed to the New South Wales Court of Appeal against a decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales concerning the interpretation of the *Business Franchise Licences (Tobacco) Act 1987* (NSW). The dispute involved Pinson Pty Ltd, a company that sold tobacco products, and the Chief Commissioner's assessment of the company's liability for business franchise licence fees.

The central legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether Pinson Pty Ltd was entitled to a deduction for the value of tobacco products it had purchased from other licensed tobacco retailers when calculating its gross tobacco revenue for the purpose of determining its licence fee liability. The Chief Commissioner contended that such deductions were not permissible under the Act.

The Court of Appeal, in its reasoning, examined the definition of "gross tobacco revenue" within the *Business Franchise Licences (Tobacco) Act 1987*. It concluded that the Act intended to tax the revenue derived from the sale of tobacco products to consumers, and not the revenue derived from inter-dealer sales. Therefore, the Court held that Pinson Pty Ltd was entitled to deduct the value of tobacco products purchased from other licensed retailers, as these represented costs of goods sold rather than revenue generated from sales to the ultimate consumer. The appeal was dismissed.