Wall & Wall

In *Wall & Wall*, the parties were Wall & Wall Pty Ltd (the applicant) and the Commissioner of Taxation (the respondent). The dispute concerned the Commissioner's assessment of additional income tax and penalties against the applicant for the 2014 and 2015 income years. The applicant sought to have these assessments set aside. The matter was heard in the Federal Court of Australia.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the Commissioner had acted with "unreasonable delay" in issuing the amended assessments, thereby entitling the applicant to relief under section 55 of the *Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977* (Cth). This involved considering the timeframe between the Commissioner's knowledge of the relevant facts and the issuance of the assessments, and whether this delay was so significant as to be considered unreasonable in the circumstances.

The Court reasoned that for a delay to be considered unreasonable, it must be more than mere tardiness; it must be a delay that is unjustifiable or inexcusable. The Court examined the evidence regarding the Commissioner's investigation and the steps taken leading up to the amended assessments. It found that the Commissioner had engaged in a complex investigation involving multiple entities and significant amounts of financial data. The Court concluded that the time taken to conduct this investigation and issue the assessments, while substantial, was not demonstrably unreasonable given the complexity and scope of the matters involved. The Court applied the principles of administrative law concerning the exercise of statutory powers and the grounds for judicial review, finding that the applicant had not established that the delay was so unreasonable as to warrant setting aside the Commissioner's decision.

The Court therefore dismissed the applicant's application.