Federal Commissioner of Taxation v Word Investments Ltd

HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIAGUMMOW, KIRBY, HAYNE, HEYDON AND CRENNAN JJCOMMISSIONER OF TAXATION OF THECOMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA  APPELLANTANDWORD INVESTMENTS LIMITED  RESPONDENTCommissioner of Taxation of the Commonwealth of Australia v Word Investments Limited[2008] HCA 553 December 2008M41/2008ORDERAppeal dismissed with costs.On appeal from the Federal Court of AustraliaRepresentationR Merkel QC with R A Brett QC and D M Harding for the appellant (instructed by Australian Government Solicitor)J J Batrouney SC with M T Flynn for the respondent (instructed by Moores Legal)Notice:  This copy of the Court's Reasons for Judgment is subject to formal revision prior to publication in the Commonwealth Law Reports.CATCHWORDSCommissioner of Taxation of the Commonwealth of Australia v Word Investments Ltd Taxation – Income tax – Charities – Entity engaged in investment business and funeral business – Profits distributed to religious organisations – Whether entity exempt from income tax as "charitable institution" – Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth), ss 50-1, 50-5, 50-50, 50-52.Taxation – Income tax – "Charitable institution" – Whether sufficient for entity to have solely charitable purposes – Whether necessary for entity to engage in charitable activities directly – Whether necessary that distributed profits applied for charitable purposes. Taxation – Income tax – "Charitable institution" – Whether entity's objects in fact confined to charitable purposes.Taxation – Income Tax – Special condition for "charitable institution" income tax exemption – Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth), s 50-50(a) – Whether entity has physical presence in Australia – Whether entity "incurs its expenditure and pursues its objectives principally in Australia".Words and...