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Edited version of private advice

Authorisation Number: 1012663997055

Ruling

Subject: goods and services tax (GST) and assisting with the preparation of a report

Question

Is GST payable on your supply of the service of contributing to a report prepared by Company X for a company based overseas (Company Y)?

Answer

Yes.

Relevant facts and circumstances

You are registered for GST.

You are based in Australia.

You have an overarching agreement with a company based in Australia, Company X.

An employee of yours has contributed to a report prepared by Company X for a company based overseas, Company Y.

Your employee travelled to the overseas country in which Company Y is based for a small number of days to assist with the report.

Company X invoiced Company Y for the work provided.

You invoiced Company X for a component of the revenue.

Relevant legislative provisions

A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 subsection 7-1(1)

A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 section 9-5

A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 section 9-40

A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 section 38-190

Reasons for decision

Summary

Your supply is not GST-free under section 38-190 of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act) because consumption of your supply took place in Australia.

Detailed reasoning

GST is payable by you on your taxable supplies.

You make a taxable supply where you satisfy the requirements of section 9-5 of the GST Act, which states:

You make a taxable supply if:

(*Denotes a term defined in section 195-1 of the GST Act)

You meet the requirements of paragraph 9-5(a) to 9-5(d) of the GST Act. This is because:

There are no provisions of the GST Act under which your supply of the service is input taxed.

Therefore, what remains to be determined is whether you made a GST-free supply.

Item 3

A supply of something, other than goods or real property, is GST-free under item 3 in the table in subsection 38-190(1) of the GST Act (item 3) if it is a supply:

other than a supply of work physically performed on goods situated in Australia when the thing supplied is done, or a supply directly connected with real property situated in Australia.

Subsection 38-190(4) of the GST Act provides that a supply is taken, for the purposes of item 3, to be a supply made to a recipient who is not in Australia if:

Paragraphs 64 and 65 of Goods and Services Tax Ruling GSTR 2004/7 explain when a company is in Australia for the purposes of item 3. They state:

Paragraphs 57 and 58 of GSTR 2004/7 discuss the concept of 'provided to another entity'. They state:

Paragraph 45 of GSTR 2007/2 discusses how to determine whether a supply is used or enjoyed outside Australia. It states:

Thing supplied is not goods or real property

You supplied to Company X the service of contributing to a report Company X prepared for its customer. A service is not goods or real property. Therefore, it is appropriate to consider item 3 as you supplied something other than goods or real property.

Recipient in Australia

Company X is based in Australia. The supply you made was for the purposes of its Australian presence. Therefore, the recipient of your supply was in Australia in relation to your supply. The recipient was in Australia in relation to your supply when you performed the services.

Subsection 38-190(4)

You supplied your service under an agreement you had with an Australian resident.

You rendered your service to Company X as your service consisted of contributing to a report that it prepared for its customer. You were not sub-contracted to prepare the entire report and give the report to Company X's customer. The entity to which your supply actually flowed was Company X despite the fact that its customer indirectly benefited from the service you supplied to Company X. Therefore, you provided your supply to the recipient of that supply. Hence, you did not provide your supply to 'another entity outside Australia'. Therefore you are not treated as having made your supply to an entity that was not in Australia by virtue of subsection 38-190(4) of the GST Act.

Because you did not provide your supply to an entity that was outside Australia, effective use and enjoyment of your supply did not take place outside of Australia.

Your supply was not a supply of work physically performed on goods situated in Australia when the thing supplied is done, or a supply directly connected with real property situated in Australia.

Conclusion

You did not make a GST-free supply under item 3 because:

There are no provisions of the GST Act under which your supply is GST-free.

As you meet all of the requirements of section 9-5 of the GST Act, you made a taxable supply to Company X. Hence, GST is payable on that supply.


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