Qantas will have to pay the tax office $34 million in GST it collected from passengers who booked tickets but then didn’t turn up for their flights.
In a landmark ruling today, the court determined Qantas had still provided a service to those customers and therefore owed the Australian Tax Office (ATO) the outstanding GST.
“Will have to pay”? The Court said:
7. Qantas contended that GST was not payable on the unused fares and that the GST which had been paid on them should be refunded by the Commissioner. …