Deputy Commissioner of Taxation v Huang (No 4)

The Deputy Commissioner of Taxation applied to the Federal Court for an order varying a freezing order made against Changran Huang. The original freezing order restricted Mr Huang from disposing of or diminishing the value of his Australian assets up to a certain amount. The applicant argued that it was necessary to vary the order to allow Mr Huang to use his Australian assets to pay for his ongoing legal expenses, as his overseas assets were more than sufficient to cover these expenses. The court was required to decide whether the freezing order should be varied to permit Mr Huang to use his Australian assets to pay for his legal expenses. The court held that a variation was necessary to allow the efficacious execution of the order for the judgment debt. The court held that the applicant would find it far easier to enforce the debt against Mr Huang's Australian assets than his overseas assets. Furthermore, Mr Huang had sufficient overseas assets to pay for his ongoing legal proceedings. Therefore, the freezing order was varied to allow Mr Huang to use his Australian assets to pay for his legal expenses. The court ordered that the freezing order be varied by inserting the words “using your ex-Australian assets for the purposes of” after the words “This order does not prohibit you from”. The court also ordered that Mr Huang pay the applicant's costs of and in connection with the interlocutory application.