The Gatekeeper Court: For the Revenue or For the Taxpayer?

Abstract

Since its establishment four decades ago, the Federal Court of Australia ('the Court') has become the leading tax court in the nation. Twenty-five years ago, while denying special leave to appeal from the Full Court of the Federal Court to the Commissioner of Taxation in Westfield Ltd v FCT, Mason CJ stated that the Full Court should be 'the ultimate Court of appeal in taxation matters subject only to the exceptional cases in which this Court grants special leave to appeal'.