Victorian Employers' Federation v Federal Commissioner of Taxation

The Victorian Employers' Federation appealed to the High Court of Australia against a decision of a Board of Review that disallowed its objection to an income tax assessment for the year ended 30 June 1947. The Federation contended that its income was exempt from tax under section 23(f) of the *Income Tax and Social Services Contribution Assessment Act 1936-1947* (Cth), which exempts the income of a "trade union". The Commissioner of Taxation was the respondent.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the term "trade union" as used in section 23(f) of the Act encompassed an association of employers, or if it was confined to its ordinary meaning of an association of employees. The Federation was not registered under any Act relating to the settlement of industrial disputes, and its claim for exemption rested solely on its assertion that it qualified as a trade union.

Kitto J. reasoned that the ordinary meaning of "trade union", supported by dictionary definitions and historical usage, referred to an association of workers for the protection and furtherance of their interests. While acknowledging that certain legislation, such as the *Trade Union Act 1871* (UK) and its colonial counterparts, provided artificial definitions of "trade union" that included employers' associations, His Honour found no indication that the Income Tax Assessment Act intended to adopt such an extended meaning. The Act itself did not define "trade union", and the specific inclusion of "an association of employers or employees registered under any Act or State Act" in the latter part of section 23(f) suggested a deliberate distinction from the term "trade union" used earlier in the provision. His Honour concluded that the expression "trade union" in section 23(f) should be interpreted in its ordinary sense, which did not include associations of employers.

Consequently, the appeal was dismissed, and the Victorian Employers' Federation was ordered to pay the costs of the respondent.