The Emerging High Court Jurisprudence on Part IVA

Abstract:     
Any statutory rule attempting to combat sophisticated tax avoidance will precipitate its own jurisprudence, analysing the terms of the provision in minute detail and resulting in judicial glosses on the language of the statute. In addition, a statute which depends for its operation on conclusions about purpose or intent will likely prove to lead to highly unpredictable outcomes. This article analyses the emerging judicial interpretation of Australia's general anti-tax avoidance rule at the hands of the High Court. It also examines how much of the conjecture and inference that is an inevitable element of the rule has been resolved in the cases litigated to date.

Keywords: income tax, tax avoidance, general anti-avoidance rule, statutory interpretation

JEL Classifications: K34, H25, H26, G38, K22

Accepted Paper Series