Quirky Mama Productions Pty Ltd (Subject to Deed of Company Arrangement) and Screen Australia (Taxation)

Quirky Mama Productions Pty Ltd (Subject to Deed of Company Arrangement) and Screen Australia were parties to proceedings before Deputy President Bernard McCabe of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The dispute concerned the eligibility of certain expenditure for the Producer Tax Offset, specifically whether the expenditure constituted Qualifying Australian Production Expenditure (QAPE) for an Australian feature film.

The Tribunal was required to determine when relevant expenses were incurred for the purposes of calculating QAPE. This involved assessing the weight of expert evidence regarding the nature and timing of payments made to various service providers and individuals involved in the production.

The Tribunal found that the expert evidence of Mr Lynch, due to his thorough reports and extensive relevant experience, carried more weight than quotes from other VFX providers. Screen Australia conceded that $9,299,070 originally claimed as QAPE was not in dispute and that an audit fee of $7,500, initially omitted, should now be included. Furthermore, the Tribunal was satisfied that payments totalling $254,168 to Green Smoke, $260,000 in producers' fees to Ms Imrie and Ms Sparke, and $100,000 in director's fees to Mr Sparke were incurred in the relevant sense and therefore formed part of QAPE. The reviewable decision was varied to reflect these findings.