Chief Commissioner of State Revenue v E Group Security Pty Ltd

The Chief Commissioner of State Revenue appealed to the Court of Appeal of New South Wales against a decision concerning the interpretation of section 37(1) of the *Payroll Tax Act 2007* (NSW). The dispute centred on whether the Chief Commissioner could overturn a construction of this provision previously determined by the Supreme Court in *UNSW Global Pty Ltd v Chief Commissioner of State Revenue* [2016] NSWSC 1852, which had been consistently applied in subsequent cases.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the established construction of section 37(1) of the *Payroll Tax Act 2007* (NSW), as determined in *UNSW Global*, should be departed from. This required the court to consider the impact of subsequent amendments to the legislation, some of which had materially altered the operation of employment agency contract provisions, and whether the existing construction remained workable and tenable in light of these changes and harmonisation with legislation in other jurisdictions.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the grounds of appeal, finding that the Chief Commissioner had not demonstrated that the construction adopted in *UNSW Global* was unworkable or untenable. The court noted that despite subsequent amendments to the legislation, some of which had altered the operation of employment agency contract provisions, the established construction had been consistently applied and the legislation had been harmonised with other jurisdictions. Consequently, the court declined to depart from the precedent set in *UNSW Global*. The court ordered that grounds 1, 2, and 3 of the amended notice of appeal be dismissed with costs, and the balance of the appeal was listed for directions.