Undertakings given to the ACCC by Londy Pty Ltd trading as Purely Commercials, a dealer of light commercial vehicles in Western Australia concerning misleading representations about a tax benefit that applied to purchasers of vehicles displayed in an advertisement.
On 22 February 2009, Londy published a full page advertisement featuring second hand vehicles that it had available for sale to the public in the CARSguide section of the Sunday Times newspaper. In the advertisement Londy made the following statements:
“GOVERNMENT INVESTMENT ALLOWANCE NOW 30%";
ABN Holders: if you can fully claim your work vehicle, there has never been a better time to buy, the tax benefits are massive, Only until 30th June this year;
This adds up to a MASSIVE TAX BENEFIT; and
Talk to your accountant, then talk to us.
On the date the advertisement was published the Tax Laws Amendment (Small Business and General Business Tax Break) Bill 2009 had not been introduced into Federal Parliament.
Second-hand assets are not eligible for the proposed Tax Beak which was described as the Government Investment Allowance in the advertisement.
Londy has acknowledges that it contravened sections 52 and 53(c) of the Trade Practices Act 1974 by making the claim about the tax benefit that would apply.
The ACCC has accepted court enforceable undertakings from Londy that it:
will not, for a period of three years, represent that goods or services have benefits they do not have;
