Private ruling: GST and sale of goods located outside Australia
Date of advice: 25 October 2016
Published: February 2017

Ruling: Q1: Is the supply of goods made by the Australian entity to overseas customers a taxable supply under the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act) where the goods are not located in Australia and delivered to an overseas address? | A1: No. GST is payable on a taxable supply. One of the requirements for a taxable supply is the supply has to be connected with Australia. For the purposes of determining whether a supply is connected with Australia, section 9-25 of the GST Act makes a distinction between a supply of goods, a supply of real property and a supply of anything other than goods or real property. Accordingly, before determining whether a supply is connected with Australia it is necessary to ascertain the nature of the thing supplied. Supply of goods A supply of goods is connected with Australia if: ● the goods are delivered or made available in Australia to the recipient of the supply (subsection 9-25(1) of the GST Act); or ● the supply of the goods involves the goods being removed from Australia (subsection 9-25(2) of the GST Act); or ● the supply of the goods involves the goods being brought to Australia and the supplier imports the goods into Australia (subsection 9-25(3) of the GST Act). When the Australian entity sells goods to an overseas customer and these goods are located outside Australia and delivered directly to an overseas customer, its supply of goods is not connected with Australia. In this instance its supply of goods is outside the scope of GST and no GST will be applicable to the supply.

Relevant facts and circumstances: You are an Australian entity and registered for the goods and services tax (GST). You purchase goods from overseas and sell them to overseas customers. The goods that you sell to the overseas customers are located outside Australia and delivered to an overseas address.

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 9-25