Episodes

It’s tax time again!  As a result, there is more focus on ATO public guidance and the need to make calls on tax issues and outcomes.  Sometimes, this will raise the need for interpretation.  Where this occurs, remember to apply ordinary purposive principles.  Start and finish with the statutory text – this is fundamental.  In between, consult context in the …

iNOW! has aimed at building capacity on interpretation for 2 years – let’s all get better at this!  Two disrupting ideas still lurk in the shadows, however.  The first is that ‘anything goes’, with every position being equally tenable.  This is misconceived.  Determining what parliament meant and selecting between constructional choices both involve key interpretation skills¹.  Second …

The FCAFC in Chevron upheld certain transfer pricing assessments¹.  Allsop CJ (at [3]) said it was ‘paramount to recognise the fiscal and commercial context’ of provisions – ‘To begin and end with the words of the statute does not reflect a call to narrow textualism … it is the words used by Parliament which frame the question of …

Justice John Middleton of the Federal Court makes important points in a coming article¹: ‘Undoubtedly, there is a need for readily understandable and consistent principles to guide the interpretation of legislation.  These principles should basically be guided by common sense² and we should not be blinded by too many rules or over-analysis, or mechanical or scientific analysis …

Uber BV v Commissioner [2017] FCA 110

Many cases touch on statutory interpretation in some way, but few are about almost nothing else.  Uber BV is one of them.  The GST law defines ‘taxi travel’ to mean ‘travel that involves transporting passengers, by taxi or limousine, for fares’.  Griffiths J said that ‘taxi’ takes its ordinary meaning and that …

Contractual interpretation

Resolution of tax disputes depends on applying the law as it is to the facts as found.  If the facts are wrong, so usually will be the tax.  Findings of fact often depend on contractual interpretation, so it’s important to know the basics here.  As the High Court restated recently¹, it’s an objective approach according to …

Justice John Logan of the Federal Court makes two points in a recent paper about statutory interpretation¹.  The first is that a ‘plethora of prescription’ in legislation ‘has, almost exponentially, increased the construction tasks a member of the [AAT] may be called upon to confront’².  The second is that interpretational principles ‘do not differ as between …

Have you ever known (or thought you’ve known) the purpose of a provision because you were involved, in one way or another, in its drafting?  You may have spoken to someone who claims to have written the law and is dead-set certain what they meant.  This may be interesting but, when it comes to interpretation, it is irrelevant.  As iNOW!…

The Acts Interpretation Act – a statutory Cabinet of Curiosities

It is not uncommon for a statute to be silent on something that appears to leave a hole in its operation, such as undefined words that obviously should be, unaddressed mechanical matters, and other esoteric issues.  Before cursing the drafters and throwing the statute across the room in frustration, look …

Developments in statutory interpretation case law are often seen to be of greatest relevance to those whose job it is to advise on or argue about the operation of existing statutes.  In my opinion, they are just as relevant for those who design statutes, as they need to ensure that government policy can be achieved when the law is interpreted …