Commissioner v CLP Power HK [2017] HKCFA 18
It’s not every day that a Hong Kong case says something about our tax laws3. This court (at [35]) says that the principles of interpretation apply just as much to tax laws as to other statutes. Kirby J in our High Court is quoted for 2 propositions. First, it is ‘hubris on the part of specialised lawyers’ to think that their statute is special and, second, that tax laws are to be construed ‘like any other federal statute’4.
Episode 14 made this point via what the High Court told us back in 2009 – ‘tax statutes do not form a class of their own’5. iTip – read tax laws without bias one way or the other – that’s the message from HK.
This case is from Episode 24 of interpretationNOW!
Footnotes:
3 Thanks to Robert Olding for spotting this one.
4 FCT v Ryan [2000] HCA 4 (at [84]) dissenting.
5 Alcan [2009] HCA 41 (at [57]).