North Shore Gas Company Limited v Commissioner of Stamp Duties (NSW) [1940] HCA 7

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HIGH COURT

(1939-1940.

(HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA.]

THE NORTH SHORE GAS COMPANY LIMITED AppELiant ;

AND

THE COMMISSIONER OF STAMP DUTIES

(NEW SOUTH WALES) } Resrorna

ON APPEAL FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES.

H.C. or A, Stamp Duties (N.S.W.)—Ezxemption—Goods, wares, and merchandise—Sale of

1939-1940. undertaking of gas company—Mains and service pipes embedded in soil—Stamp poe Duties Act 1920-1933 (N.S.W.) (No. 47 of 1920—No. 12 of 1933), sec. 41*, Sypyey, Second Schedule*. 1939, ; : Ae, Mains and service pipes forming part of a continuous system of gas reticula- Pes tion were embedded in the soil of public roads, public places and private land by a gas company under powers conferred upon it by a Private Act whereby 1940, a general control over and power at any time to remove such mains and pipes April 3. were also conferred upon the gas company. Bich, cae) Held that an agreement for the sale of the whole of the assets and undertaking

and

of the gas company as a going concern was not, so far as it related to the mains McTiernan JJ,

and service pipes, an agreement for the sale of goods, wares, or merchandise " within the meaning of the proviso excepting such an agreement from ad-valorem. duty contained in the Second Schedule to the Stamp Duties Act 1920-1933 (N.S.W,).

Decision of the Supreme Court of New South Wales: Re North Shore Gas

Co. Lid. ; Ex parte The Commissioner of Stamp Duties, (1989) 40 8.R. (N.S.W.) 85; 56 W.N. (N.S.W.) 150, affirmed.

*The Stamp Duties Act 1920-1933 were a conveyance of the property

(N.S.W.) provides as follows :—Sec. 41: "(1) Every agreement for the sale or conveyance of any property in New South Wales shall be charged with the same ad-valorem duty to be paid by the purchaser or person to whom the pro- perty is agreed to be conveyed as if it