The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has provided guidance to help taxpayers navigate the goods and services tax (GST) classification of food, beverages, and health products, clarifying whether these items are subject to tax or GST-free.
ATO has updated guidance and new resources to make informed GST classification decisions, including:
- GST food and beverage and health classification guidance – helps you work out if your product is taxable or GST-free
- Emerging GST issues for food and beverage and health products – provides early information about where we’re considering the need for new or updated public guidance
- Self-review guide for medium to large business – gives you step-by-step guidance to assess your business system processes and controls that impact your GST classification decisions.
It’s important to carry out regular reviews of the GST status of the products as the GST classification can change over time, including where the product itself changes or the marketing of the product or use by the public changes.
ATO has also updated the GST detailed food list public ruling to clarify that breakfast cereal-related products are not GST-free if they’re a “combination food”. The detailed food list and the food and beverage search tool are the easiest ways to work out the GST classification of your food and beverage products.
