YZYJ and Commissioner of Taxation (Taxation)

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered an application by YZYJ to reinstate its application for review, which had been taken to be dismissed pursuant to section 42A(1B) of the *Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975* (Cth) following the filing of a notice of withdrawal. The Commissioner of Taxation was the respondent. The withdrawal was prompted by YZYJ's perception of bias on the part of a member of the Tribunal.

The primary legal issue before the Tribunal was whether the application for review had been dismissed in error, thereby engaging the Tribunal's power to reinstate the application under section 42A(1B). A further consideration was whether the reinstated application would have reasonable prospects of success.

Deputy President Bernard J McCabe P reasoned that the applicant's perception of bias, while a significant concern, did not constitute an error in the dismissal of the application under section 42A(1B). The Tribunal's power to reinstate an application dismissed under this provision is confined to situations where the dismissal itself was erroneous, not where the underlying reasons for withdrawal were later found to be, or perceived to be, mistaken or insufficient. The Tribunal found that the withdrawal was a deliberate act by the applicant, and the subsequent perception of bias did not retrospectively render the dismissal erroneous. Consequently, the Tribunal determined that the application for reinstatement lacked the necessary foundation to be granted.

The application for reinstatement was dismissed.