Goods and Services Tax Ruling
This Ruling discusses when supplies of goods are connected with Australia under subsections 9-25(1), (2) and (3) of A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act).For a supplier to be liable for goods and services tax (GST) on a taxable supply, one of the requirements is that the supply must be connected with the indirect tax zone. In this Ruling, the ‘indirect tax zone’ is referred to as ‘Australia’.
The Ruling also considers when supplies of goods are disconnected under paragraph 9-26(1)(c) (items 3 and 4). This Ruling updates and replaces the Commissioner’s view on supplies of goods provided in Goods and Services Tax Ruling.
Supplies of goods
This Ruling concerns the supply of goods for the purposes of the GST Act. A supply of goods is a supply of any form of tangible personal property, that is, any form of personal property that has a physical existence. Therefore, it does not include:
Intangible personal property such as intellectual property like a copyright, or
Land or an interest in land.
A supply of goods is not limited to a sale of goods. It can include other means of supply such as a lease or hire of the goods.
Supplies of goods connected with Australia
In determining whether a supply of goods is connected with Australia, a distinction is made in section 9-25 between supplies of goods:
Wholly within Australia
From Australia and
To Australia.
The place the supplier or recipient carries on their business is not relevant in determining if a supply of goods is connected with Australia under subsections 9-25(1), (2) or (3). However, this can be relevant in determining when a supply of goods subject to a lease is disconnected under items 3 or 4 of subsection 9-26(1).
Supplies of goods wholly within Australia
Goods are delivered in Australia if the goods are physically delivered in Australia. Goods are also made available in Australia if the goods are physically made available in Australia. The terms ‘delivered’ and ‘made available’ look at the place where the goods are at the relevant time.
Circumstances in which goods are delivered or made available by a supplier in Australia to the recipient include:
Where the supplier physically delivers the goods from a place in Australia to the recipient’s nominated place in Australia, and
Where the supplier has the goods imported into Australia, and shipped to themselves, prior to delivering or making the goods available to the recipient of the supply in Australia.
Supplies of goods from Australia
A supply of goods is connected with Australia, if the supply involves those goods being removed from Australia.
‘Removed’ in subsection 9-25(2) has its ordinary meaning. ‘Remove’ means to move from a place, to move or shift to another place, or to displace from a position.
Subsection 9-25(2) does not apply where removal is not part of the supply.
If you would like to read more about this Tax Ruling, please click on the following link
https://www.ato.gov.au/law/view/document?docid=GST/GSTR20182/NAT/ATO/00001
Tags: goods and services tax, tax ruling