Nicholls and Commissioner of Taxation (Taxation)

This matter concerned an appeal by the Applicant against the Commissioner of Taxation's disallowance of his objection to an amended notice of assessment for the 2021 income year. The dispute arose from the Commissioner's decision to disallow the Applicant's claimed deduction for personal superannuation contributions. The facts were not in dispute: the Applicant made personal superannuation contributions totalling $6,500 to HESTA during the 2021 income year.

The legal issues before the court were whether the Applicant had complied with the notification requirements under section 290-170 of the *Income Tax Assessment Act 1997* (Cth) to claim a deduction for his personal superannuation contributions, and whether any discretion existed to extend the time for notification or disregard a failure to notify. The Applicant had initially submitted a notice of intent to claim a deduction for $6,550, which HESTA could not accept due to a discrepancy with their records showing $6,000 in undeducted contributions. The Applicant subsequently resubmitted a notice for $6,000 before lodging his tax return.

The court affirmed the Commissioner's decision, finding that the Applicant had not made a valid notification in accordance with section 290-170 of the ITAA 1997. The court noted that the requirements of this section, as amended in 2006, are clear: a valid notice must be given to the superannuation fund by the earlier of the lodgement of the income tax return or the end of the financial year following the contribution, and this notice must be acknowledged by the fund. The court found no discretion available to the Commissioner or the Tribunal to exempt the Applicant from these statutory requirements.

Consequently, as the Applicant had failed to discharge his onus to prove that the amended assessment was excessive or incorrect due to non-compliance with the notification provisions, the objection decision under review was affirmed.