Private ruling: health services
Published: March 2013

Ruling: ISSUE: | Are the psychological services you provide, which are the same as those provided by the registered psychologists you employ, GST-free? | DECISIONS: | No. The psychological services you provide, which are the same as those provided by the registered psychologists you employ, are not GST-free.

Relevant facts and circumstances: · You are the sole director of a trustee company. · The trustee company is registered for the goods and services tax (GST). · You employ qualified psychologists who are registered under State laws with approval to provide psychology services for the wellbeing of your clients. · You have a number of higher qualification but not the necessary qualifications for registration as a psychologist under State laws. · However, you provide the same services to your client as the registered psychologists you employ. · Clients are referred to you (and to the registered psychologists you employ) by government instrumentalities, registered medical practitioners, medical specialists and psychiatrists. · Medical practitioners and allied medical service providers refer their clients to you and to the registered psychologists to provide professional services to enable such clients to develop skills and learn strategies to support the clients' own psychological wellbeing and to reduce future medical interventions. · The services provided by the registered psychologists you employ are GST-free.

Relevant legislative provisions: A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act) Section 38-10

Reasons for decision: Summary: Under section 38-10 of the GST Act, a supply is GST-free if all of the following are satisfied: 1. It is a service of a kind specified in the table in this section, or of a kind specified in the Regulations, and 2. the supplier is a recognised professional in relation to the supply of the service of that kind, and 3. the supply would generally be accepted, in the profession associated with supplying services of that kind, as being necessary for the appropriate treatment of the recipient of the supply. Services of a kind specified in the table in section 38-10 of the GST Act To qualify as a service of a kind specified in the table in section 38-10 of the GST Act (Table), the service must be the provision of one of those actual services listed. Psychology is listed as item 16 in the Table. In this case you advise that you provide the same services as those provided by registered psychologists employed by you. You state that the services provided by the registered psychologists you employ are GST-free. Therefore you may satisfy this requirement. However, it is necessary to determine whether the services you provide also satisfy the other two requirements of section 38-10 of the GST Act. Recognised professional The definition of a "recognised professional" is provided in section 195-1 of the GST Act as a person who is a recognised professional in relation to the supply of the service of a kind specified in the Table if the service is supplied in a State or Territory in which the person has permission or approval, or is registered, under a State law or a Territory law prohibiting the supply of services of that kind without such permission, approval or registration. It is considered that 'prohibiting' includes a law which does not allow a person to hold themselves out as a provider of certain services as governed by that law. Under the relevant State and Territory Acts dealing with psychology, a practitioner of psychology must be registered under that relevant Act. Therefore, it is considered that only a person registered for the provision of psychology under the relevant Acts will be a recognised professional in relation to psychology. You advised that you are not registered for the provision of psychology services in the State in which you operate. Therefore, you are not a "recognised professional" in relation to the supply of psychology. All of the three conditions stipulated in section 38-10 of the GST Act must be satisfied for a supply to be GST free. As you do not satisfy one of those conditions, the supplies you make in this regard will be taxable and not GST-free. It is not necessary, therefore, to determine whether the supplies you make satisfy the other condition. We have enclosed the following ATO publication for your information - GST and other health services