Royal Sydney Golf Club v Federal Commissioner of Taxation

The Royal Sydney Golf Club appealed to the High Court against an assessment for land tax made by the Federal Commissioner of Taxation. The dispute concerned the unimproved value of land owned by the club at Rose Bay, Sydney, which was used for its golf courses and associated facilities. The Commissioner had assessed this value without regard to the provisions and effect of the County of Cumberland Planning Scheme.

The legal issues before the High Court were twofold. First, whether the unimproved value of the land, for the purposes of the Land Tax Assessment Act 1910-1950, should be determined with or without regard to the County of Cumberland Planning Scheme. Second, if the scheme was to be considered, whether the land, or parts of it, constituted "vacant land" within the meaning of the scheme, as opposed to "built-up land," which carried different restrictions.

The Court reasoned that the unimproved value of the land must be assessed having regard to the provisions and effect of the County of Cumberland Planning Scheme. It held that the scheme represented a law operating over an area of the State that controlled the use of land, and therefore, its impact on the market value of the land could not be disregarded. The Court further determined that the land, excluding the sites of buildings and their respective curtilages (other than those minor structures listed in the definition of "vacant land"), was to be considered "vacant land" under the scheme. This conclusion was based on the principle that the primary use of the land was for golf courses, and the buildings were incidental to that use, rather than the land being incidental to the buildings.

The Court answered the first question in the case stated in the affirmative, holding that the land should not be valued without regard to the County of Cumberland Planning Scheme. The second question was answered in the affirmative, finding that it was open to the judge to determine that the land, except for the sites and curtilages of certain buildings, was vacant land within the meaning of the scheme.