GST in Australia guide

Australian GST for digital service providers

The supply by nonresident suppliers of intangibles, including anything other than goods or real property (e.g., digital products, services, rights), to an Australian non-registered consumer will be taken to have the necessary connection with Australia and may be subject to GST unless otherwise exempted. A supplier must have sufficient evidence that would enable a person who is independent of the transaction to reasonably conclude that its customer is not an Australian consumer (e.g., customer residency and their GST registration status and purpose of acquisition). In some circumstances, the responsibility for the GST liability that arises under the amendments may be shifted to the operator of an electronic distribution platform rather than the supplier of the intangible supply.

List of digital services that are the subject of Australian GST:

The following activities are included within the Australian definition of electronic services:

• Streaming or downloads of music, films, apps and games
• E-books
• Online professional services
• Online web, cloud and storage services.

GST rates

The terms “taxable supplies” and “taxable importations” refer to supplies of goods, real property, and services and importations that are liable to GST and which give rise to a right to claim input tax credits for GST included in acquisitions related to the supply. Taxable supplies are supplies subject to the standard rate of GST, which is 10%.

Late – registration penalties.

Penalties and interest may be imposed for late registration or for failure to register and for late submission of a GST return, as part of the Business Activity Statement (see Section I), or late payment of GST.