ATO Interpretative Decision

ATO ID 2001/473 (Withdrawn)

Goods and Services Tax

GST and raw/unprocessed olives
FOI status: may be released

This ATO ID is withdrawn as the Tax Office position on this issue is contained in the current GST Food Guide (NAT 3338)

This document incorporates revisions made since original publication. View its history and amending notices, if applicable.

CAUTION: This is an edited and summarised record of a Tax Office decision. This record is not published as a form of advice. It is being made available for your inspection to meet FOI requirements, because it may be used by an officer in making another decision.

This ATOID provides you with the following level of protection:

If you reasonably apply this decision in good faith to your own circumstances (which are not materially different from those described in the decision), and the decision is later found to be incorrect you will not be liable to pay any penalty or interest. However, you will be required to pay any underpaid tax (or repay any over-claimed credit, grant or benefit), provided the time limits under the law allow it. If you do intend to apply this decision to your own circumstances, you will need to ensure that the relevant provisions referred to in the decision have not been amended or repealed. You may wish to obtain further advice from the Tax Office or from a professional adviser.

Issue

Is the entity, a food supplier, making a GST-free supply under section 38-2 of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act), when it sells raw/unprocessed olives?

Decision

Yes, the entity is making a GST-free supply under section 38-2 of the GST Act when it sells raw/unprocessed olives.

Facts

The entity is a food supplier.

The entity sells raw/unprocessed olives.

The entity is registered for goods and services tax (GST).

Reasons for Decision

A supply of food is GST-free under section 38-2 of the GST Act, provided that the supply does not fall within any of the exclusions listed in section 38-3 of the GST Act.

Food is defined in subsection 38-4(1) of the GST Act. Paragraph 38-4(1)(a) of the GST Act provides that food includes food for human consumption (whether or not requiring processing or treatment). Raw/unprocessed olives are considered to be food for human consumption.

However, under paragraph 38-3(1)(c) of the GST Act, a supply of food is not GST-free if it is food of a kind that is specified in the table in clause 1 of Schedule 1 to the GST Act (Schedule 1). Raw/unprocessed olives are not specified in Schedule 1, and therefore, the supply of raw/unprocessed olives is not excluded from being GST-free under paragraph 38-3(1)(c) of the GST Act. In addition, the supply of raw/unprocessed olives does not fall within any of the other exclusions listed in section 38-3 of the GST Act.

Accordingly, the entity is making a GST-free supply under section 38-2 of the GST Act when it sells raw/unprocessed olives.

Date of decision: 29 August 2001

Legislative References:
A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999
   section 38-2
   section 38-3
   paragraph 38-(3)(1)(c)
   subsection 38-4(1)
   paragraph 38-4(1)(a)
   Schedule 1 clause 1

Keywords
Goods and services tax
GST free
GST food
Food for human consumption

Business Line: GST

Date of publication: 17 October 2001

ISSN: 1445-2782

history

	Date:	Version:
	29 August 2001	Original statement
You are here	5 December 2008	Archived

Copyright notice

You are free to copy, adapt, modify, transmit and distribute material on this website as you wish (but not in any way that suggests the ATO or the Commonwealth endorses you or any of your services or products).