The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) has held that the exclusion in the tax law from the capital gains tax (CGT) small business concessions for assets used “mainly to derive rent” applies even if the assets are used in “carrying on a business” of deriving rent.
In this case, the taxpayer argued that in interpreting the rules, it was necessary to distinguish between those assets used to derive passive investment income such as rental income, and those actively used in carrying on a business. Essentially, the taxpayer argued that the strict view that all properties that are used mainly to derive rent are automatically excluded from the concessions unfairly discriminates against small leasing businesses.
However, the AAT considered that the words in the law must be considered first and that it was not “unduly pedantic to begin with the assumption that words mean what they say”.
TIP: This case demonstrates the need to be aware of the various conditions required to be satisfied in order to claim the CGT concessions for small businesses. In this case, the key issue was whether three commercial properties that the taxpayer used in carrying on a business of deriving rent qualified as “active assets” and were therefore potentially eligible for the concessions. However, the AAT found that a specific exclusion under the tax law for assets used mainly to derive rent applied. Please contact our office if you would like further information.