Private ruling: Supplies of things
Date of advice: 26 February 2026
Published: 20 April 2026
Ruling period: year ending 30 June 20XX | year ending 30 June 20XX | year ending 30 June 20XX | year ending 30 June 20XX
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 20XX

Ruling: Q1: Is GST payable on supplies of support services; hosting services and administration services made by an Australian based business under section 9-5 of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 ( GST Act) when it provides services to a non-resident business based outside of Australia? | A1: No. GST is not payable on the supplies as they are GST-free under subsection 38-190(1) of the GST Act. | Q2: If the supply of support services; hosting services and administration services (services) made by Entity X are GST-free as per subsection 38-190(1) of A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act) and the recipient has previously been charged GST, how is this corrected? | A2: If you have incorrectly charged GST to the recipient of a supply, you may make a decreasing adjustment in the Business Activity Statement (BAS) for the period in which reimbursement of the excess GST to the recipient occurs.


Relevant legislative provisions: A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 section 9-5 | A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 section 38-190 | A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 Division 93 | A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 Division 142

Reasons for decision: Summary: GST is not payable on the supply of support services; hosting services and administration services made by an Australian based business. As the recipient is a non-resident business that is not registered or required to be registered and acquires the thing in carrying out their enterprise and is outside of Australia in relation to the supply when the thing is supplied these supplies are GST-free under item 2 of subsection 38-190(1) of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act). However, if you have charged GST on these supplies and have reported GST on your Business Activity Statement (BAS), the GST remains payable unless and until you have refunded the GST paid to the recipient. | Detailed Reasoning - Detailed reasoning: GST is payable on a taxable supply. A supply is taxable under section 9-5 of the GST Act if: (a) you make the supply for consideration; and (b) the supply is made in the course or furtherance of an enterprise that you carry on; and (c) the supply is connected with Australia; and (d) you are registered or required to be registered for GST. However, the supply is not a taxable supply to the extent that it is GST-free or input taxed. Based on the information provided, your supply of services to the recipient satisfies paragraphs (a) to (d) of section 9-5 of the GST Act. That is: • you supply your services to the recipient for consideration • the supply of your services is in the course or furtherance of your enterprise that you carry on in Australia • the supply of your services is connected with Australia, and • you are registered for GST. There is no provision of the GST Act under which your supply of services is input taxed. It remains to be determined whether the supply is GST-free. Under section 38-190 of the GST Act, certain supplies of things other than goods or real property (intangibles), for consumption outside of Australia, are GST-free. The items in subsection 38-190(1) sets out supplies of things, other than goods or real property, that are for consumption outside Australia and therefore GST-free. If the requirements of one of the items in subsection 38-190(1) are met, the supply is GST-free, provided subsections 38-190(2), (2A), (3) or (5) do not negate that GST-free status. Relevant to your supply of services to the non-resident business located outside of Australia is table item 2 of subsection 38-190(1) of GST Act (item 2). Item 2 provides that a supply of an intangible made to a non-resident business is GST-free of it is a supply that is made to a non-resident business that is not in Australia when the thing supplied is done, and: (a) the supply is neither a supply of work physically performed on goods situated in Australia when the work is done, nor a supply directly connected with real property situated in Australia; or (b) the non-resident acquires the thing in carrying on the non-residents enterprise but is not registered or required to be registered for GST. You meet the requirements for the supply of services to be GST-free under item 2 as the services you provide are: • intangible (something other than goods or real property) • made to a non-resident who is not in Australia as they relate to a portal based outside of Australia and has no direct connection with goods or real property situated in Australia • the recipient of the supply is a non-resident who acquires the thing in carrying on their enterprise but is not registered or required to be registered for GST in Australia. There are exclusions from the GST-free status available under item 2. These exclusions are contained in subsections 38-190(2), 38-190(2A) and 38-190(3) of the GST Act, however, none of these exclusions apply. Therefore, you are making a GST-free supply of administrative, hosting and support services under table item 2 of subsection 38-190(1) of the GST Act. | Detailed Reasoning - Question 2: If the supply of support services; hosting services and administration services (services) made by and Australian based business is GST-free as per subsection 38-190(1) of A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act) and the recipient has previously been charged GST, how is this corrected? | Summary: If you have incorrectly charged GST to the recipient of a supply, you may make a decreasing adjustment in the Business Activity Statement (BAS) for the period in which reimbursement of the excess GST to the recipient occurs. In accordance with Division 142 of the GST Act if a GST-free supply is incorrectly treated by the supplier as subject to GST and the supplier charges their customer GST and reports GST on the supply in their BAS, the GST remains payable unless and until the supplier refunds the GST to their customer. Additionally, under Division 93 of the GST Act, any entitlement to a refund of excess GST ceases to be payable unless it is taken into account in an assessment within 4 years. | Detailed Reasoning - Detailed reasoning: The object of Division 142 of the GST Act is to ensure that excess GST is not refunded if this would give an entity a windfall gain. Generally, the Division operates so that the supplier is not entitled to a refund of an amount of excess GST where the supplier has passed on GST to another entity (the recipient) and has not reimbursed that other entity for the passed-on GST. Under subsection 142-5(1) of the GST Act 'excess GST' is an amount of GST that has been taken into account in an entity's assessed net amount and is in excess of what was payable by the entity in the relevant tax period prior to taking into account or applying the provisions of Division 142 of the GST Act. In relation to refunding the excess GST, section 142-10 of the GST Act provides that the excess GST that has been passed on to a recipient is taken to have always been payable unless and until the recipient has been reimbursed for the passed-on excess GST. This means that an amount of excess GST will only be refundable if: • it has not been passed on to the recipient, or • it has been passed on to the recipient and the recipient has been reimbursed. The Commissioner's view on the meaning of the terms 'passed on' and 'reimburse' for determining whether section 142-10 applies to an amount of excess GST is explained in Goods and Services Tax Ruling GSTR 2015/1 'Goods and services tax: the meaning of the terms 'passed on' and 'reimburse' for the purposes of Division 142 of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GSTR 2015/1)'. Paragraph 12 states: | Detailed Reasoning - Excess GST passed on: 17. If the excess GST has been passed on to the recipient, section 142-10 applies to treat the excess GST as always having been payable, and payable on a taxable supply, until the excess GST has been reimbursed to the recipient. Once section 142-10 ceases to apply, the supplier can claim a refund of the excess GST. Paragraph 110 of GSTR 2015/1 further states: 110. For example, where the supplier mischaracterises a supply by incorrectly treating an input taxed or GST-free supply as a taxable supply, the costs of the GST will generally be embedded in the price of the supply, and be passed on to the recipient. In this case, where you have incorrectly treated the supply of services to the recipient as a taxable supply and have not refunded the relevant amount of GST that should not have been charged, excess GST has been passed-on to the recipient. Consequently, consistent with the view in paragraph 17 of GSTR 2015/1, section 142-20 of the GST Act applies and you are not entitled to the refund of the excess GST and the excess GST is treated as always having been payable on the supply. However, where you refund the recipient the excess GST, you will be entitled to a refund of excess GST as it is no longer considered to have passed-on GST to the recipient. You can then claim a refund for the amount of excess GST by making a decreasing adjustment in the BAS for the period in which reimbursement of the excess GST to the recipient occurs. Additionally, a further limitation to refunding the excess GST is in force under Division 93 of the GST Act. Any entitlement to a refund of excess GST ceases to be payable unless it is taken into account in an assessment within 4 years.

Entity X (you) is an Australian resident company that is registered for GST.: You provide services in accordance with an agreement entered into with a non-resident business based outside of Australia (the recipient). | The recipient is a business based outside of Australia and does not have a presence or carryout its enterprise in Australia. | The recipient is not registered or required to be registered for GST. | The recipient provides services that are similar to you. | The recipient uses a portal that is similar to that used by you. | The recipient uses the services that you provide whilst they are outside of Australia. | The services that you provide the recipient with are: | 3) Administrative services | The payment for the support services; hosting services and administration services (the services) are paid by the recipient to you. | The services relate to the portal based outside of Australia, having no direct connection with goods or real property situated in Australia. | The recipient of the supply is a non-resident who is outside of Australia when the supply is made. | Question 1: Is GST payable on the supply of support services; hosting services and administration services (services) made by an Australian based business under section 9-5 of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act) when it provides services to a non-resident business based outside of Australia?