S & A Financial & Accounting Services Pty Ltd and Tax Practitioners Board (Taxation)

This matter concerned an application for reinstatement of proceedings before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The applicant, Ms Alfy, initially sought to review a decision by the Tax Practitioners Board to terminate a company's registration. However, the company's director subsequently requested the withdrawal of these proceedings, which was confirmed by the Tribunal. Ms Alfy later sought to reinstate the proceedings, asserting she had the company's authority to continue them.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether it possessed the power to reinstate proceedings that had been dismissed at the applicant's request under section 42A(1A) of the *Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975* (Cth). This section provides that a withdrawal under its terms results in a dismissal of the proceedings by the Tribunal without a review of the substantive decision. The Tribunal was required to determine if the circumstances of the dismissal allowed for reinstatement, particularly in the absence of an error in the dismissal process.

Deputy President McCabe P reasoned that section 42A(1B) of the AAT Act dictates that a withdrawal under section 42A(1A) leads to a dismissal of proceedings. The Tribunal's power to reinstate proceedings is limited. Reinstatement is possible under section 42A(10) if the proceedings were dismissed in error. However, if the dismissal occurred at the applicant's request, as it did here, the discretion under section 42A(9) is not available to the applicant. As the dismissal was not the product of error, and the company had requested the withdrawal, the Tribunal concluded it lacked the power to reinstate the proceedings at Ms Alfy's behest.

The Tribunal therefore refused the application for reinstatement, finding that it did not have the power to grant it given the circumstances of the dismissal.