Federal Commissioner of Taxation v Newton [1957] HCA 99

High Court of Australia Kitto J. Dixon C.J. McTiernan, Williams, Fullagar and Taylor JJ. Federal Commissioner of Taxation v Newton

ORDER Appeals allowed with costs. Orders under appeal set aside. In lieu of each such order, order that the appeal from the amended assessment to which it refers be dismissed with costs. Liberty to apply.

Cur. adv. vult.

The following written judgment was delivered by:—

Aug. 8, 1956 Kitto J.

Fourteen appeals under s. 197 of the Income Tax and Social Services Contribution Assessment Act 1936-1950 Cth. against assessments amended in exercise of the power given to the commissioner by s. 170 (2) of that Act have been heard together. The appellants are Lauri Joseph Newton, Lionel Newton, Henry James Lane, Leonard Alfred Fenton, Stella Maud Adeline Lane, Francie Una Christian, and the trustees of the estate of Robert Nathan deceased. Each appellant (counting the trustees as one) appeals against two amended assessments, one being in respect of income derived in the year ended 30th June 1950 and the other in respect of income derived in the year ended 30th June 1951.

In each case the amendment increased the liability of the taxpayer by including in assessable income, as income derived from property, certain amounts which were described, in an alteration sheet accompanying the notice of amended assessment, as the taxpayer's proportion of distributions made by three companies, Lane's Motors Proprietary Limited, Neal's Motors Proprietary Limited and Melford Motors Proprietary Limited. (In this judgment these companies will be referred to as Lane's, Neal's and Melford respectively, and together they will be referred to as the motor companies.) In some cases income from estates which were treated as having participated in such distributions was also included. In each case the amendment also assessed the taxpayer to additional tax under s. 226 (2), on the footing that the taxpayer had omitted these amounts from his return. Objections upon a number of grounds were duly lodged, and, having been disallowed by the commissioner, they were forwarded at the taxpayers' request to this Court as appeals.