Parr and Commissioner of Taxation (Taxation)

This matter concerned an application before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) concerning taxation. The applicant, Mr Parr, was serving a term of imprisonment and lacked ready access to relevant materials, impacting his ability to prepare his case. The Commissioner of Taxation agreed that the proceedings should be dismissed.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether Mr Parr had failed to proceed with his application and comply with Tribunal directions, thereby enlivening the discretion to dismiss the application under section 42A(5) of the *Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975*. The further question was whether dismissal was the appropriate course of action in the circumstances.

Deputy President McCabe P acknowledged Mr Parr's significant difficulties in preparing his case due to his imprisonment and lack of access to resources. The Tribunal had previously referred Mr Parr to a taxation advice clinic and noted that legal professionals had provided assistance on a pro bono basis. Despite directions issued on 15 May 2020, requiring Mr Parr to file his statement of facts, issues and contentions and evidentiary material by 17 July 2020, this had not occurred. A further directions hearing on 24 July 2020 resulted in revised directions, granting Mr Parr until 2 October 2020 to comply, with an indication that any further extensions would require an affidavit. The Deputy President ultimately exercised his discretion to provide Mr Parr with one further opportunity to progress the case by providing the outstanding material, rather than dismissing the application.