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Payments & procurement
The GST is a 10 per cent tax on most goods and services supplied from 1 July 2000. It is a value added consumption tax in that private consumers ultimately pay the tax and the tax is only paid once on any qualifying supply (be it a good or a service).
Businesses that are registered for the GST and that sell qualifying supplies include the GST component on their tax invoice and, in the context of their monthly or quarterly Business Activity Statement, remit the GST they collect to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and claim from the ATO, in most cases, an input tax credit for the GST which has been charged by their suppliers.
The Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts is registered for the GST and, as such, participates in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) system.
It is important to the Department that its suppliers, contractors and grant recipients understand and comply with their GST obligations and the A New Tax System legislation.
Where GST applies to any Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts charge, the GST component will be shown on the tax invoice, along with its Australian Business Number (ABN).
Unless explicitly stated otherwise, all prices quoted on Purchase Orders issued by the Department are inclusive of GST.
The department, its agencies and the discrete agencies within the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts Portfolio have the following ABNs:
| Department (excluding the following) | 34 190 894 983 |
| Australian Antarctic Division | 56 428 630 676 |
| Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator | 68 574 011 917 |
| Commonwealth Bureau of Meteorology | 92 637 533 532 |
| Director of National Parks (Parks Australia) | 13 051 694 963 |
| Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority | 12 949 356 885 |
| Natural Heritage Trust of Australia | 34 190 894 983 002 |
An Australian Taxation Office booklet on charitable, religious and not-for-profit organisations and The New Tax System is available on the internet.
The Commonwealth Government has decided to gross-up grants to GST registered charities by the full 10% to allow them to gain the benefit of the cost savings arising from the abolition of wholesale sales tax and State indirect taxes.
Organisations that specifically fall outside the definition of 'charity' for GST purposes include:
Further information, including various publications about charities, religious organisations and non-profit organisations and the new tax system is available on the internet
In accordance with government policy, the Department will deduct withholding tax (as at October 2007, 46.5% of the tax invoice total) from payments of tax invoices that do not quote an Australian Business Number (ABN).
The withholding tax also applies to any grant recipients, in addition to contractors and suppliers who do not quote an ABN, unless an exemption exists.
The No ABN Withholding does not apply to individuals or organisations that are not an 'enterprise' within the meaning of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999. It is the responsibility of the individual or organisation seeking payment from the Department to satisfy the Department that he/she/it is not an 'enterprise'.
Any amounts that you have had withheld from you under the No ABN Withholding rules will be taken into account by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) when you lodge your annual income tax return.
Contractors and grant recipients may register for an ABN electronically through business.gov.au, by mail or through their tax agent.
Businesses and not-for-profit organisations can obtain more information by phoning the business Tax Reform Infoline on 132478; accessing the Australian Taxation Office web site; or sending a faxed request to the ATO on 132860.
Information to assist suppliers may be found at the following agencies and web sites: