Private ruling: GST and residential premises
Date of advice: 5 November 2020
Published: December 2020

Ruling: Q1: Is your supply of the Property a taxable supply pursuant to section 9-5 of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 ? | A1: No. The requirements of making a taxable supply include that the supply is made in the course or furtherance of an enterprise that you carry on and that you are registered or required to be registered for GST. We consider that you are not carrying on an 'enterprise' as defined in section 9-20 of the GST Act and you are neither registered nor required to be registered for GST in regard to your sale of the Property. As all the requirements of section 9-5 of the GST Act are not satisfied, you will not be making a taxable supply when you sell the Property and it will not be subject to GST.

Relevant facts and circumstances: You are not registered for GST. On ddmmyyyy you and your parents/in-laws entered into a contract to purchase vacant land (Purchase Contract) with the intention to build houses and live next door to each other. You have provided a copy of the Purchase Contract. On ddmmyyyy you and your parents/in-laws engaged Entity A to submit a development application (DA) to council for dual occupancy and subdivision. DA consent was granted ddmmyyyy. On ddmmyyyy you signed a building contract for your house. You parents/in-laws organised their own build. In mmyyyy you received practical completion of your house, moved into and lived in the house as your primary place of residence, being the Property. Due to environmental and domestic factors you have decided to sell your Property. Your parents/in-laws are still residing in their house that they built. Partitioning will occur prior the sale so that you are the sole owner of the Property. In mmyyyy a potential purchaser entered into a contract for sale of your Property (Sale Contract). You have provided a copy of the Sale Contract.

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 9-20 | A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax Act 1999 Section 9-40