WST Pty Ltd v GRE Pty Ltd

WST Pty Ltd (the lessor) brought proceedings against GRE Pty Ltd (the lessee) in the Full Court of South Australia concerning a retail shop lease for the Buffalo Motor Inn. The dispute centred on whether the lessee was liable to pay land tax assessed against the lessor under the terms of the lease, specifically from 22 May 2011 for the remainder of the lease term and any renewal.

The Full Court was required to determine two primary legal issues: first, whether the lessee was liable to pay the land tax claimed by the lessor; and second, whether this liability extended to land tax assessed on the land from 22 May 2011 for the remainder of the lease term and any renewal. The court also had to decide who should bear the costs of the action.

The court, comprising Gray, Anderson, and Peek JJ, dismissed the lessor's claim. Their Honours reasoned that the lease was a retail shop lease to which the *Retail and Commercial Leases Act 1995* (SA) applied. Consequently, the lessee's liability to pay land tax was contingent on the amount of rent payable and the relevant threshold set by section 4(2)(a) of the Act and any associated regulations. If the annual rent exceeded the applicable threshold at any given time, the lessee would then be liable to pay the assessed land tax. The plaintiff was ordered to pay the defendants' taxed costs.