M R Hornibrook (Pty) Ltd v Federal Commissioner of Taxation [1939] HCA 29

BET «John y:

fax Cellars

id 18.

ames ERD H.C. or A. Sales Tax—Concrete piles used in erection of bridge—Bridge built under contract with — Ww BRISBANE, June 16.

sy: : July 28.

THE FEDERAL COMMISSIONER OF

HIGH COURT

[HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA.)

M. R. HORNIBROOK (PTY.) LTD. .. APPELLANT; |

AND

TAXATION . : 3 5 i }

franchise holder—Piles constructed by contractor—Goods passing under terms of — contract to some other person—Goods applied by manufacturer to his own wse— Jurisdiction of board of review—Sales Tax Assessment Act (No. 1) 1930-1936 — (No. 25 of 1930—No. 78 of 1936), secs. 3, 17, 41.

Sec. 17 (1) of the Sales Tax Assessment Act (No. 1) 1930-1936 provides that "sales tax . . . shall be levied and paid upon the sale value of goods manufactured in Australia . . . by a taxpayer and . . . sold by him or . . . applied to his own use."

A contractor constructed a bridge under contract with a highway company which held a franchise for the erection of the bridge under the Tolls on Privately Constructed Road Traffic Facilities Act of 1931 (Q.). The bridge was built on reinforced concrete piles; driven into the bed of the sea, The piles were con- structed by the contractor on the shores of the bay adjacent to the site of the — bridge. Concrete piles are not bought and sold in Australia but are specially — constructed by contractors for a particular job on which they are engaged. The Commissioner of Taxation assessed the contractor to sales tax in respect of the piles.

Held, (1) by Latham ©.5., Rich and Starke JJ. (McTiernan J. dissenting), — that the concrete piles were "goods" within the meaning of the Sales Tar Assessment Act (No. 1) 1930-1936 ; (2) by Latham ©.5. and Rich J. (Starke J. — doubting), that the contractor was deemed to have sold the piles by virtue of _ sec. 3 (4) of the Act ; (3) by Rich and Starke JJ., that the piles were applied by the manufacturer to its own use, within the meaning of sec. 17 of the Act.