Judgment of $81.4 million Stands Against Trustee

A taxpayer has lost an appeal before the Queensland Court of Appeal in which the taxpayer sought to exonerate itself from a liability to pay tax imposed.

The taxpayer was the trustee of four trusts. The Commissioner commenced proceedings against the taxpayer to recover outstanding income tax, interest and penalties which related to the trusts. In an earlier judgment, the Queensland Supreme Court granted the Commissioner summary judgment against the taxpayer for $81.4 million.

The taxpayer argued that it was not personally liable for the tax because it had not received any of the monies which were the subject of the Commissioner's assessment.

However, in the Court's view, the relevant provisions of the tax legislation that the taxpayer relied on did not have potential application to limit its liability as it was assessed under a provision relating to the tax treatment of trusts. Therefore, the Court affirmed that the taxpayer was liable for the $81.4 million.

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