Vanderstock v State of Victoria: the High Court’s latest word on excise duties
Published Date: 18 Oct 2024
Section 90 of the Constitution gives the Commonwealth exclusive power to impose excise and customs duties. With every extension to the concept of an excise duty, the scope for the states to raise revenue through taxation is correspondingly reduced. In Vanderstock v State of Victoria, the High Court extended the concept of an excise duty markedly. The majority held that a Victorian charge based on the distance travelled by zero or low emissions vehicles on most roads in Australia was invalid for breaching s 90. To reach that result, the majority overturned earlier High Court authority dating back almost 50 years to the effect that a consumption tax was not an excise duty. This article outlines the reasons of the majority and the minority in Vanderstock, including the newly formulated test for determining when a tax is an excise, and the minority’s criticisms of that test.
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- Published By: Gim Del Villar
- Published On:18 Oct 2024
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