Private ruling: GST and registration
Date of advice: 8 October 2015
Published: October 2015

Ruling: Q1: Will there be GST on the sale of the Land? | A1: No. GST is payable on any taxable supply that you make. The requirements of a taxable supply under section 9-5 of the A New Tax System (Goods and Service Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act) include that you are registered or required to be registered for GST. The sale of the Land constitutes the transfer of ownership of a capital asset for the purposes of section 188-25 of the GST Act and will be disregarded when calculating your projected turnover. As the value of the transfer of the Land is excluded from the calculation of your GST turnover, you are not required to be registered pursuant to section 23-5 of the GST Act. Therefore, you are not making a taxable supply when you sell the Land and there will be no GST applicable to the sale.

Relevant facts and circumstances: (You) are not registered for GST. You are carrying on a leasing enterprise. You jointly own vacant land in an industrial area (the Land). The Land is leased and the tenant uses the land for storage. There is no formal lease agreement. Your current GST turnover is less than $75,000.

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 Section 23-5, and | A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 Division 188.