High Court Registry closure

The High Court Registry will be closed from 4.00pm on Wednesday, 24 December 2025 and will re-open at 9:00am on Friday, 2 January 2026.

Any party seeking to file a document due to be filed between 25 December 2025 and 1 January 2026 has an automatic extension of time under the  High Court Rules 2004 (Rule 4.01.5) until 4:00pm on Friday, 2 January 2026 to file the document. Any documents lodged between 25 December 2025 and 1 January 2026 will be reviewed on 2 January 2026.

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Commissioner of Taxation v PepsiCo Inc
Commissioner of Taxation v Stokely-Van Camp Inc
Commissioner of Taxation v PepsiCo Inc
Commissioner of Taxation v PepsiCo Inc
Commissioner of Taxation v Stokely-Van Camp Inc
Commissioner of Taxation v Stokely-Van Camp Inc

[2025] HCA 30
Judgment date
Case number
M98/2024
M99/2024
M100/2024
M101/2024
M102/2024
M103/2024
Before
Gageler CJ, Gordon, Edelman, Steward, Gleeson, Jagot, Beech-Jones JJ
Catchwords

Income tax (Cth) – Notice of assessment – Royalty withholding tax – Diverted profits tax – Where non-resident companies entered into agreements with Australian company to bottle, sell and distribute beverages – Where agreements licensed intellectual property to Australian company – Where agreements did not provide for payment of royalty for use of intellectual property – Where no payment made by Australian taxpayer to non-resident companies – Where payment made to Australian subsidiary of non-resident companies for beverage concentrate – Whether payments to subsidiary included royalty for use of intellectual property owned by non-resident companies within meaning of s 6 of Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Cth) ("ITAA 1936") – Whether payments paid or credited to or derived by non-resident companies within meaning of s 128B of ITAA 1936 – Whether non-resident companies liable to pay diverted profits tax under s 177J of ITAA 1936. 

Words and phrases – "alternative postulate", "antecedent monetary obligation", "basis or condition", "consideration", "consideration for", "derived by", "diverted profits tax", "DPT", "DPT tax benefit", "exchange of promises", "income derived", "paid or credited", "payment by direction", "postulate", "principal purpose", "reasonable alternative", "reasonable expectation", "royalties", "royalty", "royalty withholding tax", "scheme", "single, integrated and indivisible transaction", "substance of the scheme", "tax benefit", "tax benefit in connection with the scheme".

Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Cth), ss 6, 128A, 128B, 177A, 177C, 177CB, 177D, 177F, 177H, 177J, 177N, 177P.

Taxation Administration Act 1953 (Cth), s 14ZZO.