Palassis v Commissioner of Taxation

In the case of Palassis v Commissioner of Taxation, the applicants, led by Mr Palassis, appealed against decisions of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) which had reviewed objections to tax assessments made by the Commissioner of Taxation. The applicants, who were self-represented, contested a variety of objections concerning Goods and Services Tax (GST), income tax, and penalties. Despite the extensive nature of the objections, the applicants' attempts at review were largely unsuccessful, with only minor variations to the penalty assessments. The AAT hearing spanned nine days, and the Tribunal found the applicants' conduct to be substantially in delay, noting numerous failures to comply with orders and a general lack of preparation.

The legal issues before the Court centred on whether certain grounds of appeal were properly formulated as questions of law, as required under the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 (Cth). The Commissioner argued that many of the grounds were not questions of law but rather findings of fact or attempts at merits review, which are not permissible in appeals from the AAT. The Court was required to determine which grounds could be struck out as not constituting questions of law and whether the remaining grounds could proceed to a full hearing.

The Court held that several of the grounds of appeal did not constitute questions of law and were, therefore, properly subject to being struck out. Specifically, the Court found that certain grounds which appeared to challenge the existence or weight of evidence, or the Tribunal's findings on the evidence, were not appropriately framed as questions of law. The Court also noted that the remaining grounds, while arguably dependent on questions of law, required further development to clarify whether they indeed related to legal questions or merely revisited factual findings. Consequently, the Court struck out certain grounds in each of the appeals, while allowing the applicants leave to amend their notices of appeal to better frame the remaining grounds as questions of law.

The Court's final orders included the striking out of specified paragraphs in the notices of appeal, granting leave to amend those notices, setting a deadline for the filing of the amended notices, listing the proceedings for a hearing, and reserving the issue of costs until the hearing of the appeal. These orders were made in accordance with Rule 39.32 of the Federal Court Rules 2011.