The environmental management charge (EMC) is an amount charged to visitors who tour the Great Barrier Reef. In most cases, the EMC is $4.50 per day, per person.
Your role as a Great Barrier Reef tourism operator is to collect the EMC on behalf of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and pay it to the Authority quarterly.
No GST is charged on the $4.50 EMC.
Even if you include the EMC on your ticket price, instead of collecting it separately, you only pay GST on the part of the ticket price that does not include the EMC.
This also means that when you are preparing your activity statement, you do not include the EMC as income.
Example: EMC included in the ticket price
Mattea is a Great Barrier Reef tour operator. She charges $48.50 per person for tours of the reef. She includes the $4.50 EMC in the ticket price.
When accounting for GST on her tour income, she subtracts the $4.50 EMC and places it in a separate account, leaving $44 as income.
When completing her activity statement she pays GST of $4 for each ticket sale. This is 1/11th of the $44 she has received as income for her tour.
At the end of every quarter, Mattea pays the EMC to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
She does not:
- pay GST on the EMC because it is not subject to GST, or
- claim a GST credit for the EMC on her activity statement.
Example: EMC collected separately from the ticket price
Dave is a Great Barrier Reef tour operator. He charges his customers $44 per person for tours of the reef. Dave separately collects another $4.50 for the EMC from his passengers as they board his boat.
When completing his activity statement, he pays GST of $4 per passenger, which is 1/11th of $44 he has received as income.
At the end of every quarter, he pays the EMC he has collected to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
He does not:
- pay GST on the charge because it is not subject to GST, or
- claim a GST credit for the charge when preparing his activity statement.
If you need more information about GST and the environmental management charge, you can:
- phone 13 28 66, or
- write to us at
If you do not speak English well and want to talk to a tax officer, phone the Translating and Interpreting Service on 13 14 50 for help with your call.
If you have a hearing or speech impairment and have access to appropriate TTY or modem equipment, phone 13 36 77. If you do not have access to TTY or modem equipment, phone the Speech to Speech Relay Service on 1300 555 727.
Last Modified: Tuesday, 27 March 2012