Eichmann and Commissioner of Taxation (Taxation)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered a dispute between Mr. Eichmann and the Commissioner of Taxation concerning the application of small business Capital Gains Tax concessions. The core of the disagreement revolved around whether a parcel of land owned by Mr. Eichmann qualified as an "active asset" for the purposes of these concessions.

The Tribunal was tasked with determining whether the land was used in the course of carrying on a business, specifically whether the act of storing tools on the land constituted sufficient use to satisfy the definition of an "active asset" under section 152-40(1) of the *Income Tax Assessment Act 1997* (Cth). The Tribunal also considered the legislative intention behind the "active asset" provisions, emphasizing that this intention should be ascertained from the text of the legislation itself.

In reaching its decision, the Tribunal found that the use of the land for storing tools was not minimal or merely incidental to the business. The Tribunal concluded that Mr. Eichmann had demonstrated, on the balance of probabilities, that the land met the requirements for being an active asset. Consequently, the Tribunal set aside the Commissioner's decision and substituted it with a decision that the land is indeed an "active asset" for the purposes of the relevant legislation.