Registration started in January and has been undertaken in phases, according to taxable turnover.

All businesses with an annual taxable turnover in excess of GBP300,000 must register for GST by Law. These registrations include group registrations.

Treasury and Resources Minister, Senator Terry Le Sueur commented that:

“The GST team have been working hard to turn around applications within 10 working days and have been in direct contact with the public since January last year. With four weeks to go until ‘GST-day’ on May 6th we are all expecting a busy few weeks helping companies ready themselves for GST.”

The GST team has been gearing up for GST for over a year. They visited 117 businesses in March and have been holding educational evenings for those businesses already registered up to three times a week. The team also answer calls and emails sent into the GST Help Desk.

Work on the legislation for GST has also been continuing and the States have recently approved Regulations for International Services Entities and amendments to the GST law. In addition, new directions have been written. These include:

• Instances when GST tax credits will be paid back to people rather than carried over to the next tax quarter;
• Where accommodation is supplied (under a contract of employment) GST will not be charged and will be treated as though it is zero-rated; and
• Where accommodation supplied in lodging houses will also be treated as though it was zero-rated.

Senator Le Sueur has also extended for the duration of 2008, under transitional arrangements, the zero-rating for hotel accommodation for GST purposes to self-catering accommodation and campsites.