Li v Chief Commissioner of State Revenue [2023] NSWCATAD 81

Civil and Administrative Tribunal New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Li v Chief Commissioner of State Revenue [2023] NSWCATAD 81 Hearing dates: 20 March 2023 Date of orders: 31 March 2023 Decision date: 31 March 2023 Jurisdiction: Administrative and Equal Opportunity Division Before: S E Frost, Senior Member Decision: The Respondent's decision to refuse to reassess and refund the duty is confirmed. Catchwords: TAXES AND DUTIES – Dutiable transactions – Liability – Cancelled transfers of dutiable property – Application for reassessment and refund of duty – Application lodged outside the statutory time limit – No discretion to extend the time limit Legislation Cited: Duties Act 1997 (NSW) Taxation Administration Act 1996 (NSW) Cases Cited: None cited Texts Cited: None cited Category: Principal judgment Parties: Haodong Li (Applicant) Chief Commissioner of State Revenue (Respondent) Representation: Applicant (Self Represented) Crown Solicitor (Respondent) File Number(s): 2022/00324865 Publication restriction: Nil

REASONS FOR DECISION 1. Haodong Li and his then wife signed a contract to buy an apartment. They paid duty on the agreement but the sale didn't proceed. They applied for a refund of the duty but the Chief Commissioner said their application was lodged too late. Mr Li has asked the Tribunal to grant an extension of time to lodge the refund application. 2. The Tribunal has no power to grant an extension of time. Unfortunately the duty can't be refunded. I will explain what happened and then explain why the duty can't be refunded.