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High Court Bulletin

Produced by the High Court of Australia Library

[2010] HCAB 3 (6 April 2010)

A record of recent High Court of Australia cases: decided, reserved for judgment, awaiting hearing in the Court’s original jurisdiction, granted special leave to appeal, refused special leave to appeal and not proceeding or vacated.

1: Cases Handed Down
2: Cases Reserved
3: Original Jurisdiction
4: Special Leave Granted
5: Cases Not Proceeding or Vacated
6: Special Leave Dismissed

1: Cases Handed Down

The following cases were handed down by the High Court of Australia during the Late March 2010 sittings.

Commissioner of Taxation v Bamford & Ors; Bamford & Anor v Commissioner of Taxation & Anor

High Court of Australia: [2010] HCA 10.

Judgment delivered: 30 March 2010.

Coram: French CJ, Gummow, Hayne, Heydon and Crennan JJ.

Catchwords:

Income tax — Income of trust estate — Assessable income of beneficiary — Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Cth) (“the Act”), s 97(1) provided that where beneficiary presently entitled to “a share of the income of the trust estate”, assessable income of beneficiary included “that share of the net income of the trust estate” — Beneficiaries entitled to specific amounts of distributable income — One beneficiary also entitled to residue of distributable income — Disparity between net income and distributable income — Meaning of “that share of the net income” in s 97(1)(a)(i) of the Act — Whether beneficiaries to be assessed by reference to their proportion of distributable income or specific amounts.
Income tax — Income of trust estate — Trustee determined, pursuant to deed of settlement, net capital gain to be treated as distributable income — Whether net capital gain was “income of the trust estate” under s 97(1) of the Act — Relevance of trustee's determination — Whether “income of the trust estate” income according to trust law or “ordinary concepts” but excluding “statutory income”.
Words and phrases — “income of the trust estate”, “presently entitled”, “that share of the net income of the trust estate”, “trust estate”, “trustee”.

Appealed from FCA FC: [2009] FCAFC 66; (2009) 176 FCR 250.

Wallaby Grip Ltd v QBE Insurance (Australia) Ltd & Anor; Stewart v QBE Insurance (Australia) Ltd & Anor

High Court of Australia: [2010] HCA 9.

Judgment delivered: 30 March 2010.

Coram: French CJ, Gummow, Hayne, Heydon and Kiefel JJ.

Catchwords:

Insurance — Workers' compensation — Workers' Compensation Act 1926 (NSW) (“Act”) s 18(1) required employers to obtain insurance or indemnity policy from insurer in respect of liability for injury to any worker — Act stipulated minimum level of cover in respect of employer's liability independently of Act — General terms and conditions of policy referred to in Act and in Appendix to Workers' Compensation Regulations 1926 (NSW) (“Regulations”) — Where insurance policy lost — Where no evidence as to level of indemnity in policy — Whether any limitation upon indemnity imposed by Act or policy — Whether insurer or insured carries burden of proving limitation upon indemnity.

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

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Details

Case: [2010] HCAB 3
Decision Date

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The High Court of Australia delivered judgment in two cases during the March 2010 sittings. In Commissioner of Taxation v Bamford and others, the Court considered the meaning of "assessable income" under the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936. The Court held that assessable income of a beneficiary of a trust includes a share of the net income of the trust estate, not merely the amount of distributable income to which the beneficiary is presently entitled. In Wallaby Grip Ltd v QBE Insurance and others, the Court examined the interaction between the Workers' Compensation Act 1926 and the Workers' Compensation Regulations 1926, concluding that there is no limitation upon the indemnity imposed by the Act or the policy. The Court found that the burden of proving any limitation on indemnity lay with the insurer.

Orders