Funny - Tax judgement accepts the bare facts
A nudist accountant has succeeded in claiming a tax deduction for trees that he planted on his property as a privacy screen. Anthony Russell, a “naturist”, planned to turn his property, located in the hinterland near Sarina in central Queensland, into a nudist retreat.
He argued that the trees provided “not only ambience and provision of privacy screen” but also through selective harvesting, income from forestry operations. The Tax Commissioner disagreed and Mr Russell took the case to the Federal Court.
The judge, John Logan, ruled that the plantings were extensive, deciding that Mr Russell and his wife were involved in a partnership that carried on a forestry enterprise. The judge went on to say that it’s not for the commissioner to limit the entrepreneurial spirit. He allowed $1,522 of tax credits for the GST Mr Russell had claimed back on the trees but declined to allow $2,739 worth of credits for a swimming pool built on the property, based on the fact that there was not yet a nudist business being carried on.
The judge dismissed the possibility that Mr Russell had contrived the nudist business so he could claim a deduction, saying he exhibited “unfeigned, unrehearsed and uncontrived knowledge on subjects about which one might expect a person interested in naturism and proposing to establish a resort at Sarina might have knowledge”.
The judge praised Mr Russell’s efforts at self-representation in court against a legal team and QC assembled by the Tax Office, saying Mr Russell “argued the case with marked and memorable skill”.