Macquarie Bank Limited v Commissioner of Taxation

The case of Macquarie Bank Limited versus the Commissioner of Taxation arose from an application to appeal a decision of the primary judge, who summarily dismissed the applicant's case on the basis that there was no reasonable prospect of success under section 31A of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976. The applicant sought declaratory relief concerning the legal effect of the Australian Taxation Office's Practice Statement. The applicant argued that the primary judge's decision to summarily dismiss the case was flawed, particularly in the way the judge distinguished a prior case, Plaintiff M61/2010E, and in the conclusion that declaratory relief did not lie or had no utility.

The court was required to determine whether the primary judge correctly exercised his discretion under section 31A of the Federal Court Act by summarily dismissing the application. Additionally, the court needed to assess the correctness of the primary judge's reasoning in concluding that the sought declaratory relief was either inappropriate or had no utility. This involved an examination of the relevant legal principles and their application to the facts of the case, as well as the role and scope of declaratory relief in the context of administrative law.

The Full Court concluded that, irrespective of the correctness of the primary judge's distinction of the Plaintiff M61/2010E case, the reasons given for determining that declaratory relief had no utility were valid. The court found that the primary judge's assessment of the utility of the sought declaration was sound and aligned with the applicable legal standards. The court held that the primary judge's decision to dismiss the application for lack of reasonable prospects of success was correctly made, and therefore, the application for leave to appeal should be dismissed. The court ordered that the applicants pay the respondents' costs of the application, as per Rule 39.32 of the Federal Court Rules 2011.