Changes Proposed To Australian GST Administration

by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong

01 December 2009

A bill has been placed before the Australian Parliament to effect certain changes to the administration of the goods and services tax (GST), arising from the Board of Taxation review, and aimed at making the tax law more transparent and reducing compliance costs for businesses.

Following the closure of a consultation on October 27 this year, the measures in the bill include a time limit on the entitlement to input tax credits and fuel tax credits; refunds under the tourist scheme; the extension of agency provisions; and the clarification of gambling supplies to entities outside Australia.

It is proposed to amend the GST law to limit to four years the period in which input tax credits or fuel tax credits may be claimed. This measure is intended to take retroactive effect from the time of its announcement on May 12, 2009.

In addition, residents of Australia’s External Territories will be allowed to claim refunds of GST, or GST and wine equalisation tax, under the tourist refund scheme, and the range of entities entitled to act as a principal for GST accounting purposes will be increased.

Finally, GST on amounts that a gambling operator is liable to pay out on bets will be clarified. This will mean that prize money paid to entities outside Australia, that are GST-free, will be explicitly excluded from total monetary prizes.

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