Wang and Commissioner of Taxation (Taxation)

The applicant, Mr Peter Wang, sought review of the Commissioner of Taxation's decision to disallow his objection to default income tax assessments for the 2014, 2015, and 2016 income years. Mr Wang also sought review of the Commissioner's decision to impose administrative penalties. The Commissioner had issued default assessments totalling over $12 million, significantly exceeding Mr Wang's claim of earning no taxable income and being self-funded through capital and third-party loans.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether Mr Wang had discharged the onus of proof under section 14ZZK(b)(i) of the *Taxation Administration Act 1953* (Cth) by satisfying the Tribunal that the default assessments were excessive and by establishing what the correct assessments should have been for each relevant year. Additionally, the Tribunal had to consider whether the administrative penalties were correctly imposed due to Mr Wang's failure to lodge tax returns.

The Tribunal found that Mr Wang failed to discharge the onus of proof. His assertions regarding self-funding through accrued wealth and loans were rejected due to a lack of sufficiently reliable evidence. The Tribunal held that it was not sufficient for Mr Wang to merely point to errors in the Commissioner's default assessments; he was required to affirmatively establish what his correct tax liabilities should have been. Furthermore, the Tribunal concluded that the administrative penalties were properly imposed because Mr Wang was clearly required to lodge income tax returns for the relevant years and failed to do so. Consequently, the Commissioner's objection decision was affirmed.