Private ruling: Claiming and paying the goods and services tax (GST)
Date of advice: 2 November 2016
Published: February 2017

Ruling: Q1: Where you are registered for the deferred GST, please confirm that no funds are required to be paid from your bank account when you are required to pay GST and claim it back at the same time that these requirements cancel themselves out? | A1: The Commissioner cannot confirm that no funds are required to be paid from your bank account when you are required to pay GST and is entitled to input tax credits when it is registered for deferred GST. Depending on the amount in the net amount for a tax period under subsection 17-5(1) of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act) and the amount of assessed GST on the taxable importation under regulation 33.15.07 of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Regulations 1999 (GST Regulations) , you may either be liable to pay GST or be entitled to a refund of GST when submitting your GST monthly return for that tax period. Further under section 31-5 of the GST Act you must give to the Commissioner a GST return for each tax period. You must give the return whether or not your net amount for the tax period is zero or you are liable for the GST on any taxable supplies that are attributable to the tax period | Q2: With a deferred GST status will you be able to defer the payment of all GST to the same moment that you also claim back all GST therefore making it a nullified event? | A2: No you cannot defer the payment of all GST to the same moment that you also claim back all GST. This is because the attribution for GST payable on taxable supplies, taxable importations, creditable acquisitions and creditable importations may not be in the same tax period under Division 29 of the GST Act. | Q3: Where you are registered for the deferred GST and have made a taxable importation of goods, will you be liable to pay the deferred GST on the taxable importation you have made when you will be eligible to claim back the GST paid on the taxable importation? | A3: Yes, you are liable to pay the deferred GST on the taxable importation of goods you have made under section 33-15 of the GST Act and regulation 33.15.07 of the GST regulations. Note : You are not eligible to claim the GST paid on the taxable importation of the goods where the taxable importation of the goods is solely or partly for the making of input taxed supplies. In this instance, you will need to determine the extent of your creditable purpose in making the taxable importation so that you can claim the correct amount of input tax credits. | Q4: Where you are registered for the deferred GST and have made a taxable importation of goods, will you be liable to pay GST on the sale of the goods where these goods are delivered to the buyer or the buyer's representative in Australia? | A4: You will be liable to pay GST on the sale of the imported goods that are delivered to the buyer or the buyer's representative in Australia where the supply of the goods is a taxable supply and not GST-free or input taxed under the GST Act. | Q5: Where you are registered for the deferred GST and have made a taxable importation of goods will you be liable to pay GST on the sale of the goods where these goods are to be exported from Australia either by you or by the buyer or the buyer's representative located in Australia? | A5: Where you sell the imported goods and deliver them to the buyer or the buyer's representative located in Australia, the supply of these goods will be a taxable supply to the extent that the supply of the goods is not GST-free or input taxed under the GST Act. However, you may treat the supply of the goods as a GST-free supply where the buyer or the buyer's representative satisfies all the requirements in subsection 38-185(3) of the GST Act and the goods are exported within the 60 day period required item 1 in the table in subsection 38-185(1) of the GST Act.