Business Law Report: Analysis of ATO, High Court and Tax Law

This business law report analyzes the role of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) as an executive body within the Australian legal system, focusing on its responsibilities in tax administration and revenue collection as defined by the TA Act 1953. The report examines a case involving Ms. Anstis, where the ATO denied a tax deduction, leading to a Federal Court ruling in her favor and an appeal to the High Court. The report delves into whether the ATO makes law, concluding it formulates rules and regulations under the taxation system but does not make statutory enactments. Furthermore, the report explores the interaction between the legislature, executive (ATO), and judiciary (Federal and High Courts) within the separation of powers doctrine, highlighting the judiciary's role in checking the executive's powers. Finally, it discusses the significance of the High Court's decision in terms of its impact on tax law application within Australia. The report references several academic sources to support its analysis.

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Business Law
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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1. What is the role of an ATO as an executive body?
As per the given case, Ms Anstis has claimed a deduction in the income tax payable
against her youth allowance income. The ATO has denied providing her with such
deductions. Ms Anstis filed before the federal court of Australia and got an order in favor
of her. The ATO filed an appeal before the High Court of Australia.
The Australian Taxation Administration is dealing tax system in Australia. As per the TA
Act 1953, the ATO acts as the executive body under the legislation and regulate the
behavior of the tax payers in the country.
The Australian Taxation Office is the main revenue collection body of the Australian
government. The ATO is the statutory body of the government who has been given the
power under the Australian Taxation Administration Act, 1953 to collect taxes in
different tax system within the country (Alghamdi et al 2016). The ATO has the
responsibility to execute and implement the tax system within the country and any other
matter related to taxation and collection of government revenue within the country. As an
executive body the ATO is to execute, implement and regulate the tax system within the
country and regulate the behavior of tax defaulters and evaders in the country (Vann
2016).
2. Does it make law?
The ATO is an executive body formed under the Taxation Administration Act of the
country. The parliament has given authority under the Act to formulate certain policies
and regulations for the day to day smooth running of the taxation system in the country

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(Tran-Nam and Walpole 2016). ATO does not make statutory enactments but has the
power to make rules and regulations under the taxation system in Australia. ATO engages
and involves with other taxation departments on policy matters relating to tax and excise.
The ATO has been granted with power by the government to instruct the OPC to prepare
legislation which the ATO deems fit and necessary to administer the taxation system
within Australia (Braithwaite 2017).
3. How does this case reflect the interaction of the different bodies under the separation of
powers doctrine?
As per the given facts of the case there is an involvement of all the three tiers of
the government. The three tiers of the government are the legislature, the
executive and the judiciary. The Australian Federal Parliament and the state
legislature are the legislative body that makes laws on the taxation system within
the country (Smith et al 2016). The ATO is been delegated with the power of
governing and administering the taxation system within the country. The ATO is
the executive body of the three tier system of the government. Whereas the
Federal Court of Australia and the High Court is the judicial body of the country
who decide matters in dispute. In this given case, the ATO has power to
determine the tax system and High Court has the power to interpret the laws made
by the parliament. Thus all three tiers are separate from each other. However, all
three tiers of the government has something common to each to keep a check n
the powers of other body. As per the case, here the judiciary by interpreting the

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law has check on using the absolute power on the general people of the country
(Long Campbell and Kelshaw 2016).
4. What is the significance of the High Court decision in terms of tax law as it is applied
within Australia?
The significance of the High Court’s decision on the given case is that the High
Court has the power to determine that the lower court has given the appropriate
judgment as per the facts of the case.

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Reference:
Alghamdi, A. and Rahim, M., 2016. Development of a Measurement Scale for User Satisfaction
with E-tax Systems in Australia. In Transactions on Large-Scale Data-and Knowledge-Centered
Systems XXVII (pp. 64-83). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Vann, R.J., 2016. Hybrid Entities in Australia: Resource Capital Fund III LP Case.
Tran-Nam, B. and Walpole, M., 2016. Tax disputes, litigation costs and access to tax
justice. eJournal of Tax Research, 14(2), p.319.
Braithwaite, V. ed., 2017. Taxing democracy: Understanding tax avoidance and evasion.
Routledge.
Smith, F., Smillie, K., Fitzsimons, J., Lindsay, B., Wells, G., Marles, V., Hutchinson, J., O’Hara,
B., Perrigo, T. and Atkinson, I., 2016. Reforms required to the Australian tax system to improve
biodiversity conservation on private land. Environmental and planning law journal, 33(5),
pp.443-450.
Long, B., Campbell, J. and Kelshaw, C., 2016. The justice lens on taxation policy in Australia. St Mark's
Review, (235), p.94.