Disclaimer
You cannot rely on this record in your tax affairs. It is not binding and provides you with no protection (including from any underpaid tax, penalty or interest). In addition, this record is not an authority for the purposes of establishing a reasonably arguable position for you to apply to your own circumstances. For more information on the status of edited versions of private advice and reasons we publish them, see PS LA 2008/4.

Edited version of private advice

Authorisation Number: 1052345866464

Date of advice: 20 December 2024

Ruling

Subject: GST - assets

Question 1

Is the supply of a special lift by you Goods and Services Tax (GST) free under subsection 38-45(1) of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act)?

Answer

Yes. As all the requirements of subsection 38-45(1) of the GST Act are satisfied, you are making a GST-free supply when you supply lifts that comply with AS 1735.15.

This ruling applies for the following period:

DD Month 202X - DD Month 202X

Relevant facts and circumstances

•                     You supply electrically powered special lifts that are specifically designed for disabled people.

•                     Lifts comply with the Australian Standards AS 1735-15 which are special designed for people with limited mobility. They are not automatically controlled.

•                     You provided specific information regarding those lifts.

•                     You are registered for goods and services tax (GST).

Relevant legislative provisions

A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 subsection 38-45

A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 Schedule 3

Reasons for decision

Under subsection 38-45(1) of the GST Act, the supply of a medical aid or appliance is GST-free where the medical aid or appliance:

•                     is covered by Schedule 3 to the GST Act (Schedule 3), or specified in the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Regulations 1999 (GST Regulations)

•                     is specifically designed for people with an illness or disability, and

•                     is not widely used by people without an illness or disability.

An item will only be GST-free if it meets all the requirements of subsection 38-45(1) of the GST Act. A GST-free item is GST-free all of the way down the supply chain and not only when supplied to a person with an illness or disability.

You supply special lifts that comply with AS 1735.15 to persons with disabilities.

Item 88 in the table in Schedule 3 to the GST Act (Item 88) which lists 'manual, electric, ceiling track or pool hoist specifically designed for people with disabilities', is broad enough to cover slow speed vertical lifts specifically designed for people with limited mobility is considered to cover slow speed vertical lifts specifically designed for people with limited mobility.

The ordinary meaning of 'hoist' as defined in The Macquarie Dictionary (November 2024) www.macquariedictionary.com.au accessed 13 November 2024 is:

1. to raise or lift, especially by some mechanical appliance: to hoist sail.

6. a lift for heavy goods; goods lift.

7. the act of hoisting; a lift.

While devices that are normally covered by Item 88 would be those devices that are used to lift an individual and transfer them, for example, from a bed to a wheelchair or from a wheelchair into a pool, it is considered that the ordinary meaning of 'hoist' is capable of covering lifts.

Item 88 restricts the device to those which are specifically designed for people with disabilities.

Supply of the lifts

To be covered by Item 88 and also to satisfy the second requirement in subsection 38-45(1) of the GST Act, the lifts that that the entity supplies must be specifically designed for people with disabilities.

Lifts complying with AS 1735.15 are low rise passenger lifts that are intended primarily to provide vertical access for persons with limited mobility. This evidences that the lifts are specifically designed for people with disabilities. They are not merely general purpose passenger lifts with additional facilities for people with disabilities such as lower buttons which are accessible by people in wheelchairs.

As such, lifts that satisfy AS 1735.15 are covered by Item 88. This means that the first and second requirements in subsection 38-45(1) of the GST Act are satisfied.

The third requirement in subsection 38-45(1) of the GST Act is that the thing supplied is not widely used by people without an illness or disability. Lifts that comply with AS 1735.15 are lifts for use primarily by people with limited mobility. The lifts are promoted as a means for them to continue living in their own homes without the need to relocate to a single dwelling house. As such, this requirement is also satisfied.

As all the requirements of subsection 38-45(1) of the GST Act are satisfied, you are making a GST-free supply when you supply lifts that comply with AS 1735.15.

Copyright notice

© Australian Taxation Office for the Commonwealth of Australia

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).