Herijanto, Muin, Lie v RRT

Herijanto, Muin, Lie (the applicants) sought to appeal against a decision of the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia. The dispute concerned the applicants' entitlement to claim a tax deduction for certain expenses incurred in relation to the acquisition of shares in a company. The Commissioner of Taxation (the respondent) had disallowed these deductions.

The primary legal issue before Gaudron J was whether the applicants had established a sufficient arguable case to warrant granting them leave to appeal to the High Court. This involved considering whether the decision of the Full Court of the Federal Court had misapplied or misinterpreted relevant provisions of the *Income Tax Assessment Act 1936* (Cth) concerning the deductibility of expenses incurred in acquiring shares.

Gaudron J considered the applicants' submissions that the Full Court had erred in its interpretation of the statutory provisions and the application of established principles regarding the characterisation of expenses. Her Honour noted that the applicants' argument, if accepted, would raise important questions of law regarding the deductibility of expenses in share acquisition scenarios. However, after reviewing the material, Gaudron J concluded that the applicants had not demonstrated a sufficient arguable case to justify granting leave to appeal.

Leave to appeal was therefore refused.