In 2005 a respected Sydney artist challenged the adverse findings of the Australian Tax Office (ATO) after an audit of her income tax return. She appealed the decision in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) and won what is now a landmark case for all artists.
Assessing the artist’s work profile against the terms of the ATO Public Ruling: carrying on business as a professional artist (TR 2005/1), her representing lawyers( Judy Sullivan of Mallesons Stephen Jaques assisted by Delia Browne) made a persuasive case. The presiding magistrate Deputy President Block of the AAT recognised the validity and weight of the evidence including the artist’s success in bringing her work to the public, gaining government grants, residencies and international exhibition opportunities. Block held that the artist was carrying on a business consistent with the terms in the tax ruling.
Read the case (Pedley v Commissioner of Taxation) here.
