Should the GIC be reinstated?
16 Turning then to the application itself, it is important to observe that the application the Deputy Commissioner pursues is one for summary judgment under s 31A of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Cth). Before I can give judgment, therefore, I must be satisfied that the taxpayers have no reasonable prospects of defending the Deputy Commissioner's proceedings: s 31A(1)(b).
17 One begins by observing that the GIC does not directly result from a notice of assessment but rather as a possible consequence of such an assessment: see, for example, s 163AA of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Cth) ('the 1936 Act'). It is, therefore, not the subject of the protection conferred by s 175 of the 1936 Act. It is legally possible, therefore, to defend a claim for GIC (unlike a claim for tax based on a notice of assessment not infected by jurisdictional error).
18 The taxpayers' primary submission is that they have reasonable prospects of defending the Deputy Commissioner's claims for GIC under item 4 because:
(a) on its proper construction item 4 does not apply to proceedings which have already been determined; and
(b) they are entitled to invoke s 361-5(1) of Schedule 1 to the Taxation Administration Act 1953 (Cth) which provides that a person is not liable to the GIC where (very loosely speaking) the person's liability to GIC arises from reliance upon a ruling given by the Commissioner.
19 As to (a), I accept that item 4 should not be interpreted as applying to judgments for GIC already granted: cf. Federated Engine-Drivers and Firemen's Association of Australasia v Broken Hill Pty Co Ltd (1913) 16 CLR 245. However, this does not assist the taxpayers because it is not correct in this case that the GIC issue has been resolved in my earlier judgment. The effect of my earlier judgment is that the excision of the GIC from the orders made by Kenny J was done on the explicit basis (at [23]) that the question of whether the taxpayers were liable for GIC under item 4 had yet to be determined. The principle of statutory interpretation invoked has, therefore, no application.
20 I turn then to (b). It was not in dispute textually that, if item 4 applied in these proceedings, subject to the taxpayers' defences, the GIC would become payable. I do not, therefore, need to dwell on the detail of how the GIC became payable. Some discussion of the issue appears in my earlier judgment at [9]-[17]. The issue in (b), therefore, arises against a backdrop which includes the fact that item 4 has otherwise made the GIC due and payable.
21 The taxpayers relied upon s 361-5(1) of Schedule 1 to the Taxation Administration Act which is as follows:
361-5 Non-ruling advice and general administrative practice
(1) You are not liable to pay the *general interest charge or the *shortfall interest charge under a relevant provision to the extent that the charge would relate to a *shortfall amount or a *scheme shortfall amount that was caused by:
(a) you reasonably relying in good faith on:
(i) advice (other than a ruling) given to you or your *agent by the Commissioner; or
(ii) a statement in a publication approved in writing by the Commissioner;
unless the advice, or the statement or publication, is labelled as non-binding; or
(b) you reasonably relying in good faith on the Commissioner's general administrative practice.
* For definition, see section 995-1 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.
22 The taxpayers submitted that they had reasonably relied in good faith upon TR [Taxation Ruling] 2004/15 to arrive at the view that they were resident outside Australia. The taxpayers also placed reliance upon ATO ID [Australian Taxation Office Interpretive Decision] 2005/73, ATO ID 2005/117, ATO ID 2006/127, ATO ID 2006/128 and ATO ID 2005/151. The ruling and each of the interpretive decisions were said to contain statements to the effect that the central management and control of a company will be where the company's directors meet.
23 The evidence did not, perhaps, rise so high. On the application, the taxpayers relied upon the affidavit of one of their solicitors, Mr Eric Herman, sworn on 5 December 2012. Mr Herman swore that Mr Gould, the taxpayers' agent and advisor, had informed him that in reliance on, inter alia, TR 2004/15 he had advised the taxpayers that they were not resident in Australia for tax purposes and were not obliged to file returns. I infer, for present purposes, that it was in reliance upon that advice that the taxpayers will contend, in the Part IVC proceedings to be heard by me commencing on 16 September 2013, that they did not file returns in the relevant years.
24 There is no evidence before me from Mr Herman or anyone else to suggest any reliance by the taxpayers upon the interpretive decisions and I will disregard them for present purposes. Nevertheless, the taxpayers submit that Mr Herman's evidence means that it is reasonably arguable that they may invoke s 361-5 in their defence because of their reliance on TR 2004/15.
25 The Deputy Commissioner submits this is not so for seven reasons.
26 First, he submits that s 361-5(1)(a)(ii) (set out above) requires reliance upon, on this hypothesis, TR 2004/15 whereas as Mr Herman's evidence showed that the taxpayers had relied on Mr Gould's advice (which the taxpayers alleged was derived from TR 2004/15). For the purposes of a summary judgment application, I reject this argument. There is nothing legally adventurous about permitting s 361-5(1)(a) to apply to reliance upon a statement by a taxpayer's advisors; that is 'you' in s 361-5(1)(a) arguably may include 'or your agents'.
27 Secondly, it was argued that TR 2004/15 expressly did not apply in circumstances which indicate 'an artificial or contrived [central management and control] outcome'. This mattered, according to the Deputy Commissioner, because such circumstances were 'plainly the case here'. I do not see how I can embrace for s 31A purposes that proposition, which translated into its correct procedural language, must mean that the taxpayers have no reasonable prospects of defending the GIC claim on the basis that the circumstances are not 'artificial or contrived'. There is no basis upon which I could make such a finding on this application.
28 Thirdly, the Deputy Commissioner submitted that he did not accept, in terms of TR 2004/15, that the relevant directors resided outside Australia. His contention has always been that the non-resident directors are merely puppets of Australian residents. Again, this position of the Deputy Commissioner is irrelevant for s 31A purposes. Is it reasonably arguable that the taxpayers' directors are resident overseas? Plainly, it is.
29 Fourthly, it was submitted that s 361-5(1) could not be engaged by a public ruling. This flowed from the heading which included the words '[n]on-ruling advice' and the language of s 361-5(1)(a)(i) which limited 'advice' by the words 'other than a ruling'. The more general words of sub-s (a)(ii) could not include the rulings excised from sub-s (a)(i) because that would render the excision in sub-s (a)(i) otiose. The taxpayers countered this by arguing that what was excluded from sub-s (a)(i) was private rulings not public rulings. This followed from the fact that the advice in sub-s (a)(i) had to be 'given to you' and a public ruling did not have that quality.
30 The resolution of that debate would require a determination of whether 'ruling' meant private ruling, public ruling or both. This, in turn, would require a broader examination of the legislative context and drafting history than was undertaken before me. I am not prepared to say that the taxpayers have no reasonable prospects of succeeding on this argument.
31 Fifthly, the Deputy Commissioner submitted that s 361-5 could only apply to the extent that the GIC would relate to a shortfall amount. The expression 'shortfall amount' is defined in s 284-80(1) of Schedule 1 to the Taxation Administration Act. It is as follows:
284-80 Shortfall amounts
(1) You have a shortfall amount if an item in this table applies to you. That amount is the amount by which the relevant liability, or the payment or credit, is less than or more than it would otherwise have been.
Shortfall amounts
Item You have a shortfall amount in this situation:
1 A *tax-related liability of yours for an accounting period, or for a *taxable importation, or under the Superannuation (Unclaimed Money and Lost Members) Act 1999, worked out on the basis of the statement is less than it would be if the statement were not false or misleading
2 An amount that the Commissioner must pay or credit to you under a *taxation law (other than the *Excise Acts) for an accounting period, or under a tourist refund scheme under Division 168 of the *GST Act or Division 25 of the A New Tax System (Wine Equalisation Tax) Act 1999, worked out on the basis of the statement is more than it would be if the statement were not false or misleading
3 A *tax-related liability of yours for an accounting period worked out on the basis of the statement is less than it would be if the statement did not treat an *income tax law, or the *MRRT law, as applying in a way that was not *reasonably arguable
4 An amount that the Commissioner must pay or credit to you under an *income tax law, or the *MRRT law, for an accounting period worked out on the basis of the statement is more than it would be if the statement did not treat an *income tax law, or the *MRRT law, as applying in a way that was not *reasonably arguable