Private ruling: GST and the sale of real property
Date of advice: 7 April 2021
Published: June 2021

Ruling: Q1: When you sell the n lots of vacant land located at the specified address(es) (The Land), will you be making a taxable supply under section 9-5 of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (the GST Act)? | A1: No, your sale of The Land will not be a taxable supply under section 9-5 of the GST Act as you are not carrying on an enterprise in relation to the supply of The Land. Accordingly, GST will not be payable on the supply.

Relevant facts and circumstances: You are a non-resident of Australia. You are not currently registered for GST. In yyyy, you purchased n block(s) of vacant land at the specified address(es) (The Land). • The property identifiers are: Property identifiers of The Land Property Volume and Folio Lot number Plan number address(es) Volume number Folio number Lot number number • The Land has never been developed or subdivided and remains vacant land as it was when you purchased it. • The only work done on The Land is the clearing of grass in accordance with Council requirements. You have recently been negotiating with a potential buyer regarding the sale of The Land. • The sale price for the Land is $x under the draft contract to be executed. • The draft contract arose from a private sale and not from listing on the market. You were registered for GST from ddmmyyyy as you were carrying on an enterprise in a specified industry at that time. When you sold the enterprise, your remaining Australian assets were only The Land and your bank accounts. In mmyyyy you cancelled your GST registration as you considered you were no longer required to be registered for GST, as your GST turnover was below the registration turnover threshold of $75,000 and you were not conducting an enterprise. You also considered your only activity consisted of holding The Land on capital account. Other than The Land, you do not currently own any other property in Australia or overseas. Your real property dealings in Australia include properties as summarised in tables 1 and 2 below: Table 1: All properties that you have previously owned or co-owned Property Number of owners Date purchased Date of sale Period of ownership Property description at time of purchase Property use after purchase and prior to sale Improvements or developments during ownership period address(es) number yyyy yyyy number years description specified uses(es) None Table 2: All properties that you currently own or co-own Property Number of owners Date purchased Date of proposed sale Period of ownership Property description at time of purchase Property use after purchase and prior to sale Improvements or developments during ownership period address(es) number yyyy yyyy number years description specified use(es) None

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 9-40 | A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 subsection 9-20(1)