On the premise or on the premises

"for the 2020 income year, on the premise"

1. Premise is singular due to the fact you used "but" if this was replaced with "and" you would have more than one premise.

2. I'm no lawyer, but I would say they could be used interchangeably here. Premise sounds better, and appears to be the better choice because you are talking about a condition of your lack of satisfaction.

3. The tax return was "for" the year 2020. This is an important designation. If you used "in" the year designated as the tax return would be vague, you would just be referring to the "one" that the individual completed in the year 2020 which in fact could be any year.

@Tony C posted:

Q1: Should I use on the premise or on the premises for the sentence below?

Q2: What is the distinction between on the premise and on the basis, is it difference in meaning or it can be used interchangeably?

Q3: Should I use for the 2020 income year or in the 2020 income year?

Example: We are not satisfied with the tax return completed by you for the 2020 income year, on the premise that no expenditure has been incurred by you, but you reported an expense of $5K.

Hi, Tony—I agree with what BE about Q3, but I recommend changing "on the premise that" to "because," "for the reason that," or "the reason being that."

Hi,

1. so if there is more than one reasons that we just use on the premises, but David suggested to use for the reasons that.

So on what circumstances we use on the basis that as you stated that in my example on the premise is more suited.

2. I don’t quite get the response to my question 3, why is it better to use for the 2020 income year, instead of in the 2020 income year. My sincere apologies

Hi, Tony,

@Tony C posted:

2. I don’t quite get the response to my question 3, why is it better to use for the 2020 income year, instead of in the 2020 income year.

If you say "for," it means that the document corresponds to the 2020 income year. If you say "in," it means that the document was prepared in the 2020 income year. It is clear that you mean to say the former.

@Tony C posted:

We are not satisfied with the tax return completed by you for the 2020 income year, on the premise that no expenditure has been incurred by you, but you reported an expense of $5K.

My interpretation is that the tax return was completed on the premise (= assuming) that no expenditure had been incurred by the taxpayer. This is in clear contradiction with the fact that the taxpayer did report a expense. My feeling is that there is a problem with the commas surrounding the "on the premise" phrase, as well as with its position. I would rewrite the sentence above differently:

- You reported an expense of $5K, so we are not satisfied with the 2020 tax return you completed on the premise that no expenditure has been incurred by you.

- We are not satisfied with the 2020 tax return you completed on the premise that no expenditure has been incurred by you, because you reported an expense of $5K.