Farina & Lofts (No 2)

In *Farina & Lofts (No 2)*, Hogan J of the Supreme Court of Victoria considered a dispute between the applicants, Farina and Lofts, and the respondent, the Commissioner of State Revenue. The applicants sought to have a notice of assessment issued by the Commissioner set aside, arguing that it was invalid.

The central legal issue before the court was whether the Commissioner had the power to issue a notice of assessment under section 104 of the *Land Tax Act 1958* (Vic) when the taxpayer had not lodged a return. The applicants contended that the Commissioner's power to assess was contingent upon the lodgement of a return, and that in the absence of a return, any assessment issued was therefore invalid.

Hogan J reasoned that section 104 of the *Land Tax Act 1958* (Vic) conferred a broad power on the Commissioner to assess land tax where a taxpayer had failed to lodge a return. His Honour found that the language of the section did not impose a prerequisite of a lodged return for the exercise of this power. The court applied the principle that statutory powers are to be interpreted according to their plain meaning, and that the Commissioner's duty to assess land tax could be discharged even without the taxpayer's compliance in lodging a return.

The court dismissed the applicants' application, upholding the validity of the Commissioner's notice of assessment.