Private ruling: GST and residential premises
Date of advice: 13 July 2015
Published: July 2015

Ruling: Q1: Will your supply of the Property be a taxable supply? | A1: No, it will be an input taxed supply of residential premises.

Relevant facts and circumstances: You are a company and are registered for GST. You own and lease commercial premises and your turnover exceeds $75,000 from this activity. You acquired a farming property (the Property) in YYYY and raised livestock for sale. In YYYY, you subdivided the Property into X blocks and sold off Y of the blocks. You then ceased the farming activity. The remaining Lot is on a single title. It is located in the indirect tax zone (Australia). The Property contains dams (about 2/3 of an acre in size) and has a boundary fence. It is X acres in size. One of the dams is situated next to a small hut. A path leads from the hut to the dam and there is a small jetty leading out into the dam. The hut contains a bedroom, bathroom and a camp kitchen. There is no fence around the hut separating it from the rest of the property. The directors of the company are older and the property is only rarely visited and then for maintenance. A neighbour visits the property to check on fire hazards. Property holding costs are expensed for income tax purposes. You have advertised the property for sale and an offer has been made.

Relevant legislative provisions: A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 Section 9-5 and | A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 Section 40-65