Chief Commissioner of State Revenue v Tasty Chicks Pty Ltd (No 2)

In *Chief Commissioner of State Revenue v Tasty Chicks Pty Ltd (No 2)*, the New South Wales Court of Appeal considered an application for costs following two hearings of an appeal. The dispute arose after a successful appeal by Tasty Chicks Pty Ltd to the High Court of Australia, which had overturned a previous decision of the Court of Appeal.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was the appropriate allocation of costs for the two separate hearings of the appeal. Specifically, the court had to determine whether the costs of the first hearing, which was rendered moot by the High Court's intervention, should be borne by the Chief Commissioner of State Revenue, and how the costs of the second hearing, which proceeded after the High Court's decision, should be apportioned.

The Court of Appeal reasoned that the first hearing of the appeal was rendered nugatory by the High Court's successful intervention. Consequently, it ordered that the appellant, the Chief Commissioner of State Revenue, pay the respondents' costs of and incidental to that first hearing. For the second hearing, which addressed the matter following the High Court's determination, the court ordered that the respondents pay the appellant's costs, with the caveat that these costs should not encompass those already awarded under the first order. The court also directed that costs incurred in the Equity Division of the Court be determined by that division upon its final resolution of the remitted matter.