Private ruling: GST and tax invoices
Published: June 2014

Ruling: Q1: Are the invoices issued to you by a builder (Builder) tax invoices? | A1: Yes.

Relevant facts and circumstances: • You are registered for goods and services tax (GST). • In carrying on your enterprise, you acquired building services from the Builder. • The Builder has issued you with numbered invoices in relation to these building services. • The Australian Business Register shows that The Builder is registered for GST. • Each invoice contains: • The Builder's name and Australian business number • The name of your partners and their address. • What has been supplied and the price of the supply. • The issue date • The amount of GST payable on the supply.

Relevant legislative provisions: A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 Subsection 29-70(1).

Reasons for decision: Summary: Under subsection 29-70(1) of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act), a document (or documents) is a tax invoice if it is issued by the supplier, is in the approved form and contains enough information to enable the following information to be clearly ascertained: • the supplier's identity and the supplier's Australian business number (ABN) • the recipient's identity or the recipient's ABN where the total price of the supply (or supplies) meets or exceeds $1,000 • what is supplied, including the quantity (if applicable) and the price of what is supplied • the extent to which each supply to which the document relates is a taxable supply • the date the document is issued • the amount of GST (if any) payable in relation to each supply to which the document relates; It must also be clearly ascertained from the document that the document was intended to be a tax invoice. In this case, the invoices were issued by the Builder and are in the approved form. We accept that the invoices were intended to be tax invoices and also accept that the invoices contain enough information to satisfy the information requirements of subsection 29-70(1) of the GST Act. As a consequence the invoices as outlined in the facts are also tax invoices for the building services you acquired from the Builder.