Private ruling: GST -supply of water
Date of advice: 28 May 2026
Published: 10 August 2026

Ruling: Q1: Is your supply of water to customers a GST-free supply under section 38-285 of the GST Act? | A1: Yes, your supply of water delivered by road via a water tank truck to your customers is a GST-free supply under section 38-285 of the GST Act as it is a supply of water and does not come within the exception for supplies in or transferred into a container with a capacity of less than 100 litres.

Relevant facts and circumstances: • You are registered for goods and services tax (GST. • You carry on an enterprise as a sole trader which involves supplying water for human consumption to customers in regional areas without access to mains water, using a tanker truck. • Customers engage you directly to request water on an as needed basis. • You purchase water from the main water suppliers via their standpipes. • The main water suppliers charge you for the water. There is no agency or subcontract arrangement between you and the main water suppliers. You purchase the water from them and on supply it to customers in your own right. • You deliver water in a 12,500-litre tanker and transfer it into customers' water tanks, each of which has a capacity of over 100 litres. • You charge customers a single amount for the supply of water which includes its delivery pursuant to a verbal agreement that covers both the supply of water and its delivery.

Relevant legislative provisions: A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 section 38-285 Detailed reasoning | GST is payable on taxable supplies. Section 9-5 of the GST Act provides, relevantly, that a supply is not a taxable supply the extent that it is GST-free or input taxed. | As your supply is not input taxed and otherwise satisfies the positive elements of section 9-5 of the GST Act, the issue is whether your supply is GST-free under section 38-285 of the GST Act. GST-free supplies of water | Subsection 38-285(1) of the GST Act provides that a supply of water is GST-free. However, subsection 38-285(2) of the GST Act provides that a supply is not GST-free if the water is supplied in, or transferred into, a container with a capacity of less than 100 litres (or such other quantity specified in the regulations). It does not matter whether the amount of water supplied or transferred fills the container. | A supply of water refers to the delivery or the making available of water, as goods, to a recipient's premises [1] . Where an entity purchases water from a main water supplier and on-supplies it to customers in its own right, (and not as agent or subcontractor), that entity is the supplier of water. | Supplier of water | You purchase water from the main water suppliers and on-supply it to customers in your own right. There is no agency or subcontracting arrangement between you and the main water suppliers, and they are not aware of the end recipients. Under your verbal agreements with customers, you are responsible for supplying and delivering the water and you charge customers directly. Accordingly, you are the supplier of the water to your customers. | GST-free exclusion | Subsection 38-285(1) of the GST Act provides that a supply of water is GST-free, unless the exclusion in subsection 38-285(2 of the GST Act applies. | In your case, water is delivered by you to your customers in a 12,500-litre tanker and transferred into the customers' water tanks, which each have a capacity of over 100 litres. Accordingly, the exclusion in subsection 38-285(2) of the GST Act does not apply and your supply of water to your customers by road tanker is GST-free. Delivery/transportation | A supply of water encompasses the delivery or making available of water as goods to a recipient's premises. Delivery of water may occur through reticulated pipes as well as by road vehicles to the recipient's storage facility not serviced by reticulated pipes [2] . | In your case, you deliver water by tanker to customers who do not have access to mains water and charge a single amount for the supply. You do not charge separately for delivery. The transportation and delivery of the water is integral to the physical delivery of water to customers and forms part of the supply of water, rather than constituting a separate supply. | Conclusion | Accordingly, your supply of water, including its delivery, is GST-free under section 38-285 of the GST Act. 3 Paragraph 20 Goods and Services Tax Ruling GSTR 2000/25 Goods and services tax: GST-free supplies of water, sewerage and sewerage-like services, storm water draining services and emptying of septic tank . | 4 Paragraph 22 of Goods and Services Tax Ruling GSTR 2000/25 Goods and services tax: GST-free supplies of water, sewerage and sewerage-like services, storm water draining services and emptying of septic tank