Private ruling: Beans in brine
Published: July 2014

Ruling: Q1: Is the supply of a bean in brine GST-free? Advice Yes

Relevant facts and circumstances: • You are registered for goods and service tax (GST). • You import and sell a bean product. • The beans are cooked seeds, stored in brine and can be eaten without further processing. • The beans are cooked (boiling) in brine solution. The ingredients are beans, water and salt.


Reasons for decision: Summary: 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 to include food for human consumption, (whether or not requiring processing or treatment) (paragraph 38-4(1)(a) of the GST Act). The beans are food for human consumption and therefore satisfy the definition of food. However, paragraph 38-3(1)(c) of the GST Act provides that a supply of food is not GST-free if it is food of a kind specified in the table in clause 1 of Schedule 1 to the GST Act (Schedule 1). The beans are cooked seeds stored in brine (water containing salt) and can be eaten without further processing. Therefore the item that may apply to the beans is item 16 of Schedule 1 (Item 16). Item 16 specifies that seeds or nuts that have been processed or treated by salting, spicing, smoking or roasting, or in any other similar way are not GST-free. These seeds and nuts are considered to be savoury snacks. However, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) view outlined in ATO Interpretative Decision ATOID 2004/434 provides that boiled nuts are not considered to have been processed or treated in a way similar to processes or treatment to foods listed in Item 16. Therefore as the beans are cooked (boiling) in brine they are not foods listed in Item 16. The beans in brine are not food of a kind listed in any of the items in Schedule 1. They are therefore not excluded from being GST-free by section 38-3 of the GST Act. The supply of the beans is GST-free under section 38-2 of the GST Act.