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Issued
2010
Decision
16 Aug 2010
Appeal Status
Appealed

Supreme Court declined leave to appeal

2010 case note - leave to appeal declined on basis that legal propositions raised did not have sufficient factual basis and an insufficient prospect of success.

Case
Avowal Administrative Attorneys Ltd & N Petroulias v the District Court at North Shore & the Commissioner of Inland Revenue

Tax Administration Act 1994

Summary

An application for leave to appeal was declined on the basis that the legal propositions raised did not have a sufficient factual basis and that overall there was an insufficient prospect of success.

Facts

Following access operations carried out by both the Commissioner of Inland Revenue ("Commissioner") pursuant to section 16 of the Tax Administration Act 1994 in 2006 involving the removal of hard copy documents and hard drives for copying, the relevant taxpayers filed a judicial review on a number of grounds, culminating in a judgment of the Court of Appeal in favour of the Commissioner issued on 11 May 2010.

The taxpayers applied for leave to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.

Decision

The Supreme Court declined the application for leave on the basis that the legal points raised by the applicants did not have a sufficient factual basis and in some respects were inconsistent with factual findings made in the High Court and upheld in the Court of Appeal. The Court was ultimately satisfied that there was an insufficient prospect that the proposed appeal would succeed and it would not be in the interests of justice to grant leave in the circumstances.