Owners Units Plan 2995 and the Commissioner for Act Revenue (Administrative Review)

The applicants, Owners Units Plan 2995, sought a review of the decision made by the Commissioner for State Revenue regarding the unimproved value of a property for the year 2010. The property in question was located at Block 1, Section 10, Gungahlin. The applicants argued that the Commissioner's assessment of the unimproved value was incorrect and lower than the actual value. They sought to have the unimproved value recalculated. The dispute was heard by the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory, which had the jurisdiction to review decisions made by the Commissioner under the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether the Commissioner's calculation of the unimproved value of the property was in accordance with the applicable legislation and regulations. The applicants argued that the Commissioner had erred in his assessment by not taking into account certain factors that should have increased the unimproved value. The court needed to determine if the Commissioner's decision was legally sound, whether he had exercised his discretion correctly, and if the decision was open to review.

The court found that the Commissioner had indeed made an error in his calculation of the unimproved value. The court considered that the Commissioner had not properly accounted for the value of the residential component and the commercial space within the property. The court recalculated the unimproved value and found it to be $7,632,000, which was significantly higher than the Commissioner's assessment. The court held that the Commissioner's decision was therefore flawed and did not accord with the law. As a result, the court set aside the Commissioner's decision and substituted it with the new calculation.

The court's final order was that the decision under review was set aside, and the decision of the Commissioner was substituted with a new calculation for the unimproved value of the property as at 1 January 2010. The unimproved value was determined to be $7,632,000, calculated based on the residential component and the commercial space within the property. The court provided a detailed breakdown of the calculation, which was to be used in lieu of the Commissioner's original assessment.