GST and GST returns where company ownership changes

Is the entity, a company, required to submit a GST return under subsection 31-5(1) of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (GST Act), when the ownership of the entity changes before the end of the tax period?

No, the entity is not required to submit a GST return under subsection 31-5(1) of the GST Act when the ownership of the entity changes before the end of the tax period. The entity is required to submit one GST return at the end of the tax period covering the whole of the tax period.

The entity is a company that is registered under the Corporations Act 2001 . It is registered for goods and services tax (GST) and lodges its GST returns quarterly.

The ownership of the company changed part way through a tax period.

Subsection 31-5(1) of the GST Act provides that an entity that is registered or required to be registered, must give to the Commissioner a GST return for each tax period.

For GST purposes, subsection 184-1(1) of the GST Act defines 'entity' to include a body corporate and other unincorporated association or body of persons.

Section 195-1 of the GST Act defines a company to mean a body corporate or any other unincorporated association or body of persons. The entity is a company that is registered under the Corporations Act 2001 . Accordingly, the entity (the company) is an 'entity' for GST purposes.

Section 27-5 of the GST Act provides that the tax periods which apply are each period of 3 months ending on 31 March, 30 June, 30 September or 31 December in each year. As the entity lodges its GST returns quarterly, it must lodge one return for each of the above tax periods.

Although the ownership of the entity has changed, the entity remains an 'entity' for GST purposes. The entity does not submit a GST return part way through the tax period when ownership of the entity (the company) changes. Therefore, at the end of the tax period, the entity must submit a GST return under subsection 31-5(1) of the GST Act covering the whole of the tax period. [Note: Under subsection 56(2) of the Taxation Administration Act 1953 (TAA), the public officer of a company is answerable for doing everything that is required to be done by the company under an indirect tax law.]