Northern Suburbs General Cemetery Reserve Trust v Commonwealth
Encyclopedia
Northern Suburbs General Cemetery Reserve Trust v Commonwealth (1993) 176 CLR
555 is a High Court of Australia
case that considered the scope of the taxation power.
The laws were made pursuant to the taxation power. Although revenue raising was not a stated objective, it intrinsically was an objective of the Acts. More importantly, if a law on its face is one with respect to taxation, the law does not cease to have that character simply because parliament seeks to achieve a purpose not within Commonwealth power.
The plaintiffs argued that the money paid was not a tax but a fee for services. The court held that it was not a fee for services because the connection between the service and the fee was too remote. The court could not determine for what service the fee was paid.
Commonwealth Law Reports
The Commonwealth Law Reports are the authorised reports of decisions of the High Court of Australia. The CLR are published by the Lawbook Company, a division of Thomson Reuters...
555 is a High Court of Australia
High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
case that considered the scope of the taxation power.
Facts
Two Commonwealth Acts, the Training Guarantee Act 1990 and the Training Guarantee (Administration) Act 1990 mandated a minimum amount an employer had to spend training their workforce. Further, employers had to pay any shortfall in the amount that had to be spent in training and the actual amount to the government. Northern Suburbs General Cemetery Reserve Trust did not spend the minimum amount, and had to pay the difference to the government. They argued the Act was unconstitutional because it was not a valid law with respect to taxation. If the laws achieved their purpose, then no revenue would actually be collected by the Commonwealth. Further, looking at the statements of objectives of the Acts, raising revenue was not an objective.Decision
Per Mason CJ, Deane, Toohey and Gaudron JJ:The laws were made pursuant to the taxation power. Although revenue raising was not a stated objective, it intrinsically was an objective of the Acts. More importantly, if a law on its face is one with respect to taxation, the law does not cease to have that character simply because parliament seeks to achieve a purpose not within Commonwealth power.
The plaintiffs argued that the money paid was not a tax but a fee for services. The court held that it was not a fee for services because the connection between the service and the fee was too remote. The court could not determine for what service the fee was paid.
See also
- Constitutional basis of taxation in AustraliaConstitutional basis of taxation in AustraliaThe constitutional basis of taxation in Australia is based on a group of powers in the Australian Constitution: sections 51, section 90, section 53, section 55, and section 96...
- Australian constitutional lawAustralian constitutional lawAustralian constitutional law is the area of the law of Australia relating to the interpretation and application of the Constitution of Australia. Several major doctrines of Australian constitutional law have developed....