The draft statement PUB00414 updates and clarifies the Commissioner's view on the High Court case of CIR v Buis as it relates to the interaction between the specific provision taxing interest and the provision taxing income under ordinary concepts. The Commissioner now considers that CIR v Buis can be read consistently with her view that an amount that may be described as interest may be income under ordinary concepts or under another provision.

In CA ANZ’s view:

• We are not convinced of the Commissioner's view that France J's comments about the exhaustive nature of the definition of interest were made solely in the context of the Commissioner's argument that ACC payments were taxable on the basis of being interest.
• We agree with an amount labelled "interest" does not make it "interest."
• We agree with paragraph 17 that whether amounts outside the statutory definition of "interest" are taxable need to be considered on a case-by-case basis and the answer will usually depend on a number of factors.