The Federal Court of Australia has found that a former tax agent contravened civil penalty provisions in promoting 12 tax exploitation schemes: Commissioner of Taxation v Perez (No 2) [2026] FCA 658. The respondent marketed and encouraged interest in the tax exploitation schemes (or caused other entities to do so) concerning claims for research and development (R&D) tax offsets in circumstances where it was not reasonably arguable that those claims were available at law.
The decision is the first to consider the operation of retrospective limitation periods, enacted in 2024, in respect of civil penalty provisions and the applicability of various exceptions and “defences” in s 290-55 of Sch 1 to the Taxation Administration Act 1953 (Cth), and one of the first to consider the interplay between the promoter penalty regime and the use of intermediaries or agents by a promoter.
Greg O’Mahoney and Eugene Chan successfully appeared for the Commissioner, instructed by Matthew Crowley, Jasmine Chan and Jade Rapson of the Australian Government Solicitor. Daniel Habashy and Kathleen Morris also appeared for the Commissioner previously in the proceedings and in the investigation which led to them.
The judgment is available here.
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