GST and registration (when only input taxed supplies are made)

Is the entity, a business operator, required to register for goods and services tax (GST) under section 23-5 of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act), when the only supplies the entity makes are input taxed supplies?

No, the entity is not required to register for GST under section 23-5 of the GST Act when the only supplies that the entity makes are input taxed supplies.

The entity is a business operator. The entity is not a non-profit body. The only supplies that the entity makes are input taxed supplies. The entity's annual gross receipts from these supplies exceed $50,000.

Section 23-5 of the GST Act provides that an entity is required to be registered for GST if: • it is carrying on an enterprise; and • its annual turnover meets the registration turnover threshold.

The entity is a business operator and is therefore carrying on an enterprise. Accordingly, under Division 23 of the GST Act, the entity is required to be registered for GST if its annual turnover threshold meets the registration turnover threshold.

Under section 23-15 of the GST Act, an entity's registration turnover threshold is $50,000, unless it is a non-profit body. The entity is not a non-profit body.

Subsection 188-10(1) of the GST Act defines turnover threshold in terms of current annual turnover or projected annual turnover. 'Turnover threshold', under section 195-1 of the GST Act, includes registration turnover threshold.

However, supplies that are input taxed are excluded from the calculation of current and projected annual turnover (paragraphs 188-15(1)(a) and 188-20(1)(a) of the GST Act).

Since all of the entity's supplies are input taxed supplies, the receipts from these supplies are excluded from the calculation of the entity's current and projected annual turnover. The entity's annual turnover will not meet the registration turnover threshold of $50,000.

Therefore, the entity is not required to register for GST under section 23-5 of the GST Act when the only supplies that it makes are input taxed. [Note: Subsection 23-10(1) of the GST Act provides that an entity may register for GST if it is carrying on an enterprise, whether or not its annual turnover meets the registration turnover threshold].