Incorporated Council of Law Reporting (Qld) v Federal Commissioner of Taxation

The Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for the State of Queensland (the appellant) appealed an income tax assessment to the Supreme Court of Queensland. The case was stated for the opinion of the High Court of Australia, with the appellant seeking to be exempt from income tax. The dispute centred on whether the appellant, an association registered as not for profit, qualified for exemption as a "public authority" or a "public educational institution" under the *Income Tax Assessment Act 1915-1918*.

The legal issues before the High Court were whether the appellant was liable to income tax assessment as a company on its undistributed income, and whether it was exempt from such assessment. Specifically, the court had to determine if the appellant met the criteria for a "public authority" or a "public educational institution" as defined by the Act, which would grant it exemption from taxation.

The High Court held that the appellant was not a public authority nor a public educational institution. The Court reasoned that while the appellant was incorporated under Queensland law as an association not for profit and its profits were applied to its stated objects, including assisting Supreme Court libraries, these characteristics did not render it a public authority or a public educational institution for the purposes of the *Income Tax Assessment Act 1915-1918*. The Act clearly defined companies as taxpayers, and unless an explicit exemption applied, the appellant was subject to tax.

Consequently, the High Court answered that the appellant was liable to assessment to income tax as a company on its undistributed income and was not exempt from assessment. The case was remitted to the Supreme Court of Queensland for determination in accordance with this judgment, with the costs of the special case to be costs in the appeal.