Vic MPs adjourn court battle against taxes A COMMITTEE of MPs will adjourn their legal battle with the tax office over whether Victorian MPs should have to pay superannuation tax. The tax for high income earners applied from August 1996 so members of the Victorian public sector superannuation schemes pay the tax like other Victorians. But the committee, known as the Parliamentary Trustee, is challenging the Commissioner of Taxation about whether the tax applies to Victorian MPs. Parliamentary Trustee chairman Gordon Rich-Phillips said the committee had resolved on Friday to seek an adjournment of its case which was to be heard in the Federal Court in Melbourne on Monday. "This is to allow the Emergency Services Superannuation Board, which is to be appointed as Trustee of the Parliamentary Contributory Superannuation Fund, to manage the case as it sees fit, at arm's length from Members of Parliament," he said. If the court appeal is successful, the move will add thousands of dollars a year to the pensions of Victorian MPs. A Victorian government spokeswoman has said it would introduce legislation to the parliament to close the committee of MPs. "In the context of contemporary financial management it is appropriate that the administration of MPs superannuation is independent of MPs and the parliament," she said this week.