Private ruling: GST and supply of coffee flavouring syrups
Published: September 2017

Ruling: Q1: Is your supply of coffee syrups (products) a GST-free supply pursuant to section 38-2 of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act)? | A1: No. It is a taxable supply.

Relevant facts and circumstances: You are registered for GST. You supply the products and distribute them in Australia. The products consist of sugar, water, flavours and colours. The products have a watery pouring consistency. The products are designed to be enjoyed with a cold beverage (served in milkshakes), a hot beverage (served with coffee) and with a dessert (served with ice cream), or used in baking.

Relevant legislative provisions: A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 section 38-2. | A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 section 38-3. | A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 section 38-4. | A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 section 9-5 | A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 Schedule 2 Summary | The products' main usages are for coffee flavouring. They have the characteristics of an ingredient for a beverage despite having subsidiary uses as food (in baking and desserts). The supply of the products is a supply that is not GST-free under section 38-2 of the GST Act as the products are an ingredient for a beverage, other than an ingredient for a beverage of a kind specified in the third column of the table in clause 1 of Schedule 2 of the GST Act (Schedule 2). | Hence the supply of the products is excluded from being GST-free by paragraph 38-3(1)(d) of the GST Act. It is a taxable supply. Detailed reasoning | GST is payable on taxable supplies. | You make a taxable supply where you satisfy the requirements of section 9-5 of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act), which states: You make a taxable supply if: | a) you make the supply for *consideration; and | b) the supply is made in the course or furtherance of an *enterprise that you *carry on; and | c) the supply is *connected with the indirect tax zone; and | d) you are *registered, or *required to be registered. | However, the supply is not a *taxable supply to the extent that it is *GST-free or *input taxed. | (*Denotes a term defined in section 195-1 of the GST Act) The indirect tax zone is Australia. | You satisfy the requirement of paragraphs 9-5(a) to 9-5(d) of the GST Act. This is because: ● you supply the products for consideration, | ● you supply the products in the course or furtherance of an enterprise that you carry on, | ● the supplies are connected with the indirect tax zone (Australia), and | ● you are registered for GST. | There are no provisions in the GST Act under which your supply of the products is input taxed. Therefore, what remains to be determined is whether your supply of the products is GST-free. | A supply of food is GST-free under section 38-2 of the GST Act if the product satisfies the definition of food in section 38-4 of the GST Act and the supply is not excluded from being GST-free by section 38-3 of the GST Act. | Food is defined in section 38-4 of the GST Act as: (1) Food means any of these or any combination of any of these: | (a) food for human consumption (whether or not requiring processing or treatment); | (b) ingredients for food for human consumption; | (c) *beverages for human consumption; | (d) ingredients for beverages for human consumption; | (e) goods to be mixed with or added to food for human consumption (including condiments, spices, seasonings, sweetening agents or flavourings); | (f) fats and oils marketed for culinary purposes; ….. | (2) Beverage includes water. | Section 38-3 of the GST Act lists food that is not GST-free. Paragraphs 38-3(1)(c) and 38-3(1)(d) of the GST Act provides: | (c) food of a kind specified in the third column of the table in clause 1 of Schedule 1 or food that is a combination of one or more foods at least one of which is food of such a kind; or | (d) a *beverage (or an ingredient for a beverage), other than a beverage (or ingredient) of a kind specified in the third column of the table in clause 1 of Schedule 2; | Current ATO view | The current ATO view as outlined in the Detailed Food List is as follows: | Item | GST Status | Notes | Coffee flavouring syrup | Taxable | Not an ingredient for a beverage of a kind specified in Schedule 2 of the GST Act Syrups (such as maple syrup and ice-cream topping) for flavouring food | GST-free | Condiment. Paragraph 38-4(1)(e) of the GST Act applies Syrups for use only to flavour beverages | Taxable | Not a beverage of a kind specified in Schedule 2 of the GST Act. The ATO view was previously contained in ATO Interpretative Decision (ATO ID) 2002/685 GST and syrup for flavouring coffee but it was withdrawn in December 2008 as the ATO view was contained in the current GST Food Guide, in particular, the Detailed Food List. | ATO ID 2002/685 provided that Coffee Syrup for flavouring coffee was a taxable supply as the product is marketed as a beverage to which Schedule 2 does not apply and concluded the following: | Although the syrup is a flavouring, it is not used to flavour food for human consumption. The syrup is used specifically in coffee, a beverage for human consumption, and is marketed for that purpose. Therefore, paragraph 38-4(1)(e) of the GST Act does not apply and the syrup is an ingredient for a beverage under paragraph 38-4(1)(d) of the GST Act. The products cannot be described as syrups for flavouring food (such as maple syrup and ice-cream toppings) per the Detailed Food List because we do not consider the products can be described as maple syrup or being predominately marketed or giving the overall impression of an ice-cream topping, therefore the above ATO view (GST-free) does not apply to the products. | We note the fact that the products are not exclusively for beverages and your customers' use of the syrups are not exclusively for beverages. The Detailed Food List is limited in its descriptions of both the product and the reason why a particular section of the law applies. While the Detailed Food List provides guidance, each product needs to be assessed on its facts and applying the tests at law. The test in the law is not to determine if the products are in fact an ice-cream topping, but to determine: | ○ Pursuant to paragraph 38(1)(d) of the GST Act are the products a beverage (or an ingredient for a beverage) other than the kind specified in Schedule 2. | ○ Pursuant to paragraph 38-3(1)(c) of the GST Act are the products a food of a kind in Schedule 1. Marketed as both a beverage and a food | The products are marketed by you as having various purposes in beverages and in food. | The GST food guide notes: | … . When thinking about marketing, consider: | ○ how goods are promoted or advertised | ○ the name, price, labelling, instructions, packaging and placement of the goods in the store. | In determining whether a product is food, or an ingredient for a beverage, it is important to determine the essential character of the product. There are products that are generally only used as an ingredient for a beverage - for example, milk powder. Although milk powder could be used as an ingredient for cooking, its essential character is that of an ingredient for a beverage. | Whilst a product can be characterised in more than one way, this is irrelevant for the purposes of the GST Act, as a product can only be classified as one particular item ( Lansell House Pty Ltd and Anor FC of T 2011 ATC 20-239 at [7] (Lansell 2011) Further in Customs and Excise Commissioners v. Ferrero UK Ltd [1997] STC 881 at 888, where the question to be answered as to the characterisation or classification of a product is one of fact and degree, as it was for biscuits, Lord Wolf MR concluded that where a product has the characteristics of two categories, it is placed in a category in which it has sufficient characteristics to qualify. | Therefore we need to determine whether the products have the characteristics of an ingredient for a beverage or a food. | Characterisation of the products: | Beverages | Beverages (or an ingredient for a beverage) of a kind listed in the third column of Schedule 2 are GST-free unless they are subject to one of the taxable rules provided in section 38-3. | In sales tax cases and when determining the phrase 'of a kind', the Courts have determined the 'essential character of the goods'. Essential character derives from the basic nature of the goods, from what they are, though composition, function and other factors necessarily play a part. | The GST case Lansell House Pty Ltd and Anor FC of T 2010 ATC 10851 ( Lansell 2010 ) did not provide an essential character test, rather it provided an overall impression test. Sunberg J held that the words in item 32 are not used in a specialised or trade sense that differs from their ordinary usage, and that it is a matter of overall impression in deciding the proper classification of a product. Please note that the Full Federal Court in Lansell 2011 upheld the Federal Court decision therefore the quote from Lansell 2010 is still relevant. | Bristol-Myers Co Pty Ltd v Federal Commissioner of Taxation (1990) ATC 4556 ( Bristol-Myers) provides that a product which can also be viewed as a food, will be classified as a beverage. | Bristol-Myers discusses if 'Sustagen Gold' (as sold in liquid form) is a beverage within the meaning of item 23 of Div. VI of the First Schedule to the Sales Tax (Exemptions and Classifications) Act 1935 . Noting that Item 23 differs from section 38-4 of the GST Act in that Item 23 describes the goods which answer the description of 'food' by reference to whether they are of a kind sold exclusively or principally or put up for sale as food for human consumption and certain other matters to which the item is directed. Section 38-4 of the GST Act does not contain a specific marketing test. In classifying food and beverages for the purposes of sales tax, Lockhart J found it necessary to 'pay regard to the constituent qualities or ingredients of the goods themselves as well as how the goods are sold or marketed or put up for sale'. The Court found that 'Sustagen Gold' constituted a beverage notwithstanding that it may also be consumed as a meal replacement. Relevantly Lockhart J is helpful when classifying products which have uses for both as a food and a beverage: | I am satisfied that, although 'Sustagen Gold'' is sometimes used as a meal replacement, it is more generally used as a drink either in association with other foods or by itself between meals rather than in substitution for other foods. The packaging of 'Sustagen Gold'' changed in more recent times with the advice of the tax advisers in mind at a time when the issues which are involved in this case were known to the applicant and its advisers. Prior to the change 'Sustagen Gold' was advertised more distinctly as being a drink. | Claims made in the packaging of 'Sustagen Gold', on its carton, and forms of advertisement are not inconsistent with its proper description as a beverage because it is a beverage of a kind that is also a food. Nor do I regard the meal replacement properties of 'Sustagen Gold' as detracting from its character as a beverage. Also the words ``Ready to Drink'' on the package indicate a beverage. 'Sustagen Gold'' is a concentrated milk drink with some added vitamins and minerals. The fact that it contains added nutrients does not alter its characterisation as a beverage. | The fact that the products have subsidiary uses for food does not alter their characterisation as an ingredient as a beverage and therefore should be classified as such. | The products are designed to be enjoyed in beverages (served with coffee) and as a dessert (served with ice cream, in desserts, in baking). | Your website shows that the main usage of the products is to enhance coffee flavour. In the marketing part of the products on your website, the emphasis is about using the products in coffee, chocolate, milkshakes, ginger ale or spiders, that is, in beverages. | The products' names and the marketing suggest the primary use of the products as Coffee flavouring syrups, thus they are ingredients for beverages. | The products are not in a plastic squeeze bottle like the maple flavoured syrup, or in a can like the golden syrup, where consumers can use a spoon to scoop out the syrup. The syrups themselves have a watery pouring consistency and are not thick like a typical syrup topping. | It follows that the products are to be classified as ingredients for beverages. The fact that the products have subsidiary uses for food does not alter their characterisation as an ingredient for a beverage and therefore should be classified as such. | We consider that the syrups are intended to be used primarily as either a coffee flavouring syrup or an ingredient for a beverage. | The products are considered ingredients for a beverage under paragraph 38-4(1)(d) of the GST Act although they have subsidiary use as ingredients for food. In addition, the products are not an ingredient for a beverage of a kind specified in Schedule 2 of the GST Act, hence they do not meet the exemption in paragraph 38-3(1)(d) of the GST Act. Conclusion: | You are not making a GST-free supply under section 38-2 of the GST Act when you supply the products. You are making a taxable supply.