Taxpayer fails to have interest waived on unpaid land tax

In the case of Guirguis v Chief Commissioner of State Revenue [2026] NSWCATAD 324, Robert Guirguis asked the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) to waive interest charged on his unpaid land tax for 2025 and 2026.

He lost because the tribunal found that he had missed payment deadlines and had not proved why his circumstances legally justified waiving the interest. The tribunal confirmed the decisions of the Chief Commissioner of State Revenue dated 5 May 2026 not to remit interest on Guirguis’ land tax liability for both the 2025 and 2026 land tax years.

In the 2025 and 2026 land tax years, Guirguis was the owner of five properties located in NSW. While he did not dispute his liability for land tax owed on those properties for those years, Guirguis sought an administrative review of the chief commissioner’s decisions to not remit interest in respect of those land tax liabilities.

The chief commissioner submitted that the applicant’s circumstances did not fall within their guidelines for the remission of interest, and as such, interest should not be remitted.

In 2025, Guirguis had an interest-free instalment plan but missed a payment. Revenue NSW cancelled the plan and charged interest on the outstanding balance. In 2026, he did not pay his land tax by the deadline while disputing the previous year’s interest, which led to further interest accruing on his unpaid 2026 tax.

Guirguis argued he qualified for interest remission across both years under the Taxation Administration Act 1996 (NSW) (TAA) remission of interest guidelines, particularly the provisions covering Revenue NSW’s acts or omissions affecting payment.

In January 2025, Guirguis was issued a Land Tax Assessment Notice for the 2025 land tax year for his properties, with a due date of 17 March 2025.

The notice included the following information: "If you do not make payment by the due date, interest will be imposed on your outstanding balance and your payment plan will be cancelled.”

On 19 February 2025, the chief commissioner approved an interest-free payment plan for the applicant to pay his 2025 land tax liability over nine equal monthly instalments in the amount of $7,393.35.

On 17 March and 19 April 2025, Guirguis paid $10,000 to the chief commissioner as part of the payment plan, which exceeded the required amounts of payment.

Revenue NSW took consideration of those larger payments by reducing his next instalment to $2,180.20 due on 16 May 2025 but Guirguis did not pay it by that date.

He argued that he had paid significant amounts during that payment period ahead of schedule and that Revenue NSW had suffered no financial disadvantage. He said the missed amount was a small residual amount stemming from the plan’s calculations.

He eventually paid the underlying 2025 tax, but $2,382.47 in interest remained unpaid and appeared on his 2026 assessment.

For 2026, Guirguis blamed Revenue NSW for failing to communicate any clear options to him, arguing that his non-payment was the result of “ambiguous and conflicting information provided by Revenue NSW, not a clear commercial decision to accept risk”.

“My difficulty was not ignorance of the general rule that tax is payable during an objection. My difficulty was the absence of any guidance, from Revenue NSW's website, its correspondence, or its officers on the correct amount to pay in my specific circumstances,” Guirguis said in his submission.

However, NCAT dismissed Guirguis’ application for several reasons, arguing that the 2025 instalment was still payable. His earlier larger payments had already been credited when Revenue NSW decreased the May instalment.

NCAT said Guirguis still had to pay the remaining $2,180.20 on time and calling it a residual amount did not relieve him of that obligation.

In addition, the judgment read that an objection did not affect payment obligations, assessment, or decision to which the objection relates and tax may be recovered as if no objection was pending. Under the legislation, tax remains payable while an objection or review is pending.

Furthermore, the commissioner had warned that overdue amounts would result in interest payments.

NCAT also rejected Guirguis’ claim that the system prevented him from paying the undisputed 2026 tax. The judgment read that there was nothing preventing the applicant from following the payment instructions on the 2026 NOA to pay the “undisputed” amount of $66,384.15 on account of his 2026 land tax liability while waiting for the outcome of the 2025 objection.

“Had he done so, this would have prevented interest from accruing, as interest does not accrue on interest,” the judgment read.

Along with this, NCAT found no financial system or payment platform failure. It also found that no Revenue NSW act or omission prevented receipt of payment. It instead found that Guirguis had not attempted to pay by the deadline in the first place.

It was up to Guirguis to prove all facts necessary for his case, or the chief commissioner’s decision would stand. NCAT found that he had not met his burden of proof and his arguments about fairness, previous payments, and confusion did not cut the mustard and establish the grounds required by the remission guidelines.

NCAT confirmed the chief commissioner’s decision from 5 May 2026 of refusing to remit interest for both tax years, and dismissed Guirguis’ application for administrative review.

His interest charges remain payable, but the orders did not include a separate costs order or specify a final combined interest amount for both years.

The case was heard before NCAT senior member Mark Anderson.