The decision of the Full Court in Commissioner of Taxation v Multiflex Pty Ltd [2011] FCAFC 142 has real implications for the Commissioner and how he administers the GST Act.  My analysis of the decision can be accessed here.

Also, colleagues who attended the judgment inform me that Counsel for the Commissioner informed the Court that the Commissioner would look to bring an urgent application for special leave to appeal before the High Court.  The Commissioner has also made an application to stay the judgment (i.e. to stay the order to pay the refund) and this application is to be heard by Justice Edmonds next week.

If the Commissioner does bring an application for special leave, along with the Qantas application, he will have two applications for special leave regarding GST.  So much for GST being a “practical business tax”.