The Assistant Treasurer on Wed 2.5.2012, released draft Regulations for public consultation specifying the GST treatment of certain Australian taxes, fees and charges. The draft regulations and explanatory material are on the Treasury website.
The Regulations would provide that certain taxes, fees and charges will either be taxable or GST exempt, consistent with the principles agreed between the Commonwealth, States and Territories that are contained in the Intergovernmental Agreement on Federal Financial Relations. The Regulations would operate in conjunction with the new principle-based legislative exemption contained in Div 81 of the GST Act that came into force on 1 July 2011, replacing the previous 680-page Determination.
The draft Regulations also provide a longer transitional period to the new exemption mechanism by extending the grandfathering of the previous Div 81 Determination for a further 12 months until 30 June 2013.
Mr Bradbury said the Regulations would ensure that the existing treatment of particular taxes, fees and charges will generally remains the same from 1 July 2012.
COMMENTS: Submissions on the draft close on 30 May 2012.
Source: Assistant Treasurer’s press release No 021, 2 May 2012
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