MacRobertson Miller Airline Services v Commissioner of State Taxation (WA)

MacRobertson Miller Airline Services (MMAS) and the Commissioner of State Taxation (WA) were the parties in this matter before the High Court of Australia. The dispute concerned the validity of the *Stamp Act 1970* (WA) and, in particular, whether certain provisions of that Act, which imposed stamp duty on MMAS's air tickets, constituted an impermissible tax on the export of goods from Western Australia, contrary to s 90 of the *Australian Constitution*.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the stamp duty levied by Western Australia on air tickets issued by MMAS for flights originating in Western Australia and terminating either within or outside the State, constituted an excise duty within the meaning of s 90 of the *Australian Constitution*. Section 90 prohibits the States from levying any duty of excise. The Court was required to determine if the stamp duty was a tax on the sale of the ticket, or a tax on the carriage of goods, and if the latter, whether it was an excise duty.

The High Court, by majority, held that the stamp duty was not an excise duty. The reasoning focused on the nature of the transaction upon which the duty was imposed. The Court determined that the duty was imposed on the *sale* of the ticket, which represented a contract for carriage, rather than on the *carriage* itself. As the sale of the ticket occurred within Western Australia, and the duty was levied on that intra-state transaction, it was not a tax on goods exported from the State. The principle applied was that a tax on the sale of a service or a right, even if that service or right is ultimately used for export, is not necessarily an excise duty.

The appeal was dismissed.