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Is concrete pumping equipment, purchased separately and then affixed to the back of a truck, a 'body for a motor vehicle' for the purposes of paragraph 20(1)(c) of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax Transition) Act 1999 (GST Transition Act)?

No, the concrete pumping equipment, purchased separately and then affixed to the back of a truck, is not a 'body for a motor vehicle' for the purposes of paragraph 20(1)(c) of the GST Transition Act.

The concrete pumping equipment consists of 3 parts: a pumping unit, a hose and a hopper.

On a job site, concrete is poured from another truck into the hopper and then pumped from the hopper to the place where the concrete is needed. During the pumping operation, there are legs that are used to stabilise the operations.

The pumping equipment was purchased separately, and then affixed to a truck. The pumping equipment is not used to transport any concrete or anything else.

Section 20 of the GST Transition Act deals with the phasing in of input tax credits for motor vehicles etc. Paragraph 20(1)(c) of the GST Transition Act provides that section 20 of the GST Transition Act applies to the acquisition by way of purchase (including hire purchase), or importation, of a 'body for a motor vehicle, including an insulated body, tank-body, or other body designed for transporting goods of particular kinds.'

A truck is a motor vehicle. Therefore, it needs to be determined whether the concrete pumping equipment is a body for the truck.

The term 'body' is not defined in the GST Act and therefore must be given its ordinary meaning. The Macquarie Dictionary (1997) defines 'body' to mean, amongst other things, 'a vehicle minus wheels and other appendages'.

The concrete pumping equipment is purchased and mounted onto an existing truck. The truck, without the concrete pumping equipment, is a complete vehicle consisting of a body, wheels, engine and attachments. The concrete pumping equipment is designed and built as specialised building and construction equipment. It has a specialised purpose, which is to be used on a worksite to pump ready-mix concrete from a hopper to the place where it is needed. This is distinct from the purpose of loading /carrying goods for transport on roads. It is separate and removable equipment that is mounted onto the truck as distinct from being fully integrated as part of the whole truck. The truck is used to transport the pumping equipment from site to site.

Therefore, the concrete pumping equipment is not a 'body for a motor vehicle' for the purposes of paragraph 20(1)(c) of the GST Transition Act. [Note 1: As the concrete pumping equipment is not a 'body for a motor vehicle' for the purposes of the GST Transition Act, the phasing in of input tax credits for motor vehicles etc contained in that Act will not apply to the acquisition of the equipment. Where the purchase of the concrete pumping equipment is a creditable acquisition under section 11-5 of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999, an entity will be entitled to an input tax credit for the acquisition. Note 2: Phasing in of input tax credits no longer applies to motor vehicles etc. acquired on or after 23 May 2001 (subsection 20(2) of the GST Transition Act).]