ATO Interpretative Decision
ATO ID 2001/357 (Withdrawn)
Goods and Services Tax
GST and physiotherapy goodsFOI status: may be released
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This ATO ID is withdrawn as it is a straight application of the law and does not contain an interpretative decision.This document incorporates revisions made since original publication. View its history and amending notices, if applicable.
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you will need to ensure that the relevant provisions referred to in the decision have not been amended or repealed.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 registered physiotherapist, making a GST-free supply under subsection 38-10(3) of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act), when it supplies back care information booklets and videos to a patient during a physiotherapy session?
Decision
No, the entity is not making a GST-free supply under subsection 38-10(3) of the GST Act, when it supplies back care information booklets and videos to a patient during a physiotherapy session. The entity is making a taxable supply under section 9-5 of the GST Act.
Facts
The entity is a registered physiotherapist and a 'recognised professional' for the purposes of the GST Act. The entity is supplying physiotherapy services that are GST-free under subsection 38-10(1) of the GST Act.
During the course of a GST-free physiotherapy session, the entity also supplies a patient with back care information booklets and videos to take away and use at home. These booklets and videos are designed as a general aid for people with back problems. They are not GST-free medical aids or appliances under section 38-45 of the GST Act.
The entity is registered for goods and services tax (GST). The supply meets the other positive limbs of section 9-5 of the GST Act. The supply is not input taxed under Division 40 of the GST Act.
Reasons for Decision
Subsection 38-10(3) of the GST Act provides that a supply of goods is GST-free if:
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- it is made to a person in the course of supplying to that person a physiotherapy service which is GST-free under subsection 38-10(1) of the GST Act; and
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- it is made at the premises at which the service is supplied.
The booklets and videos are supplied during a physiotherapy session. A supply of physiotherapy is GST-free under subsection 38-10(1) of the GST Act. The booklets and videos and the physiotherapy services are supplied from the same premises. Therefore, the question at issue is whether the booklets and videos are supplied 'in the course of' supplying the GST-free physiotherapy services.
It is considered that the phrase 'in the course of supplying to the person a service', in the context of subsection 38-10(3) of the GST Act, requires the goods to be supplied at the same point in time at which the GST-free physiotherapy services are supplied. In addition, the goods must be either:
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- customised or manipulated for the exclusive treatment of the illness or disability of the particular patient who is the recipient of the GST-free physiotherapy service; or
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- necessarily utilised as an integral part of the patient's treatment required immediately during that specific consultation.
In this case, the back care information booklets and videos are supplied at the same point in time at which the GST-free physiotherapy services are supplied. Therefore, it must be determined whether the booklets and videos are either customised or manipulated for the exclusive treatment of the illness or disability of the particular patient who is the recipient of the GST-free physiotherapy service; or necessarily utilised as an integral part of the patient's treatment required immediately during that specific consultation.
The booklets and videos are designed as a general aid for people with back problems. They are not individually customised to treat the specific back problems of the particular patient.
The booklets and videos are given to the patient during the consultation to take away and use at home over a period of time. Although they may be necessary for the patient's overall treatment, they are not used as an integral part of the patient's treatment required during that specific consultation.
Therefore, as the supply of the back care information booklets and videos are not made 'in the course of' the GST-free physiotherapy session, they do not satisfy the requirements in subsection 38-10(3) of the GST Act. As such, the entity is not making a GST-free supply under subsection 38-10(3) of the GST Act, when it supplies back care information booklets and videos.
The entity is registered for GST and the supply meets the other positive limbs of section 9-5 of the GST Act. Furthermore, as the supply is neither GST-free under Division 38 of the GST Act nor input taxed under Division 40 of the GST Act. Therefore, entity is making a taxable supply under section 9-5 of the GST Act.
Date of decision: 4 October 2000
Legislative References:
A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999
section 9-5
Division 38
subsection 38-10(1)
subsection 38-10(3)
section 38-45
Division 40
Keywords
Goods & services tax
GST free
GST health
GST other health goods
GST other health services
ISSN: 1445-2782
| Date: | Version: | |
| 4 October 2000 | Original statement | |
| You are here | 15 June 2007 | Archived |