Slatter Building Group Pty Ltd and Commissioner of Taxation (Taxation)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered the dispute between Slatter Building Group Pty Ltd (the applicant) and the Commissioner of Taxation concerning eligibility for the Coronavirus Economic Response Package – Cash Flow Boost. The applicant, incorporated in January 2020, sought to access these payments based on taxable supplies made in a specific tax period.

The core legal issues before the Tribunal were whether the applicant had satisfied the requirements of section 5(6) of the *Boosting Female Participation in Apprenticeships and Traineeships Act 2020* (BCF Act), specifically whether it had made a taxable supply in a tax period that applied to it, and whether a sole trader and their subsequent incorporated company could be considered a single "entity" for the purposes of the BCF Act. The applicant argued for a construction that would allow it to qualify, while the Commissioner contended for a stricter interpretation.

The Tribunal reasoned that the phrase "tax period that applied to it" in section 5(6)(a) of the BCF Act must refer to a tax period that applied to the entity making the taxable supply, not to the taxable supply itself. This interpretation was supported by textual considerations, including avoiding superfluity in the legislation and the established principle that tax periods are tied to entities, not supplies, under the *A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999*. The Tribunal also rejected the argument that the sole trader and the incorporated company constituted a single "entity" for the purposes of the BCF Act, finding that successive operations of a business by different legal entities do not create a single entity under the relevant definitions.

Consequently, the Tribunal affirmed the Commissioner's decision, finding that the applicant had not met the criteria for the Cash Flow Boost. The applicant's interpretation of the legislation was found to be inconsistent with the statutory text and context, despite arguments based on policy considerations.