Taxation law is a vast and dynamic area of law that intersects with many other areas of law and is never static. Australia has dozens of tax statutes containing thousands of pages of complex and interconnected legislative provisions. In addition, the Australian courts and tribunals have handed down hundreds of significant tax decisions over the years. Many of these cases involve complex commercial factual situations that raise thorny legal issues. This chapter introduces the primary sources of taxation law in Australia; namely, statute and common law. It also outlines the main kinds of rulings and advice documents issued by the ATO. These documents are important as they set out the Commissioner’s views on the operation of the law and, in certain cases, can be binding. The chapter also discusses the vast range of secondary reference material that can be used to assist in researching and resolving tax problems. It also identifies some of the key websites that are useful for conducting tax research. The chapter concludes with a discussion of some basic rules of statutory interpretation, which are critical for understanding and applying tax legislation.
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