Private ruling: Goods and services tax (GST) and supply of marketing services to non-resident
Date of advice: 16 November 2017
Published: April 2018

Ruling: Q1: Is GST payable on your supply of the consultancy services to X? | A1: No. Your supply of these services under such circumstances is GST-free under item 2 in the table in subsection 38-190(1) of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act) (item 2), as: ● consultancy services are not supplies of goods or real property; and ● the customer in question is a non-resident who is ‘not in Australia’ for the purposes of item 2; and ● the supply of the consultancy services is not a supply of work physically performed on goods situated in Australia when the work is done nor a supply that is directly connected with real property situated in Australia; and ● you do not provide these services, under such circumstances, to third parties in Australia and no other exclusions from GST-free treatment under item 2 apply.

Relevant facts and circumstances: You are registered for GST. You have an agreement with a non-resident entity, X to provide consultancy services in Australia to increase sales and marketing efficiency. X is based overseas and is not registered or required to be registered for GST in Australia. X does not carry on a business in Australia. X manufactures machines and sells them in Australia. Using your industry experience, you identify prospective purchasers for X’s products. You will demonstrate the benefits of its products to customers; you will collect orders from customers and submit the order to X, which will process and arrange for the products to be delivered to customers. Under the consultancy agreement, X will pay you a monthly fee for obtaining orders and a monthly bonus for achieving objectives as it relates to territory performance pursuant to the agreement.

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 38-190