NO.004

On Thursday I wrote to my Ministerial Council counterparts in the States and

Territories, seeking their agreement to a draft determination listing taxes and charges

that will not be subject to GST. The determination will be made under Division 81 of

the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999.

The Inter-Governmental Agreement [IGA] between the Commonwealth, States &

Territories requires that variation of the GST base by Ministerial determination requires

the unanimous agreement of the Ministerial Council representing the Commonwealth, States

& Territories.

All revenue from GST goes to the States & Territories.

The content of this list has been largely determined by the States and Territories who

nominated the taxes and charges to be exempted from GST in accordance with broad

principles set out in the IGA.

The list is based on the underlying principle that compulsory taxes and regulatory

charges should not be subject to GST.

The list of taxes and charges that are not subject to the GST includes:

• impounding fees for animals and animal registration fees;
• issue, transfer and renewal of licences, registrations and permits to undertake

  activities;

• local government rates, water, sewerage and drainage fees;
• developer contribution fees;
• building application and planning/zoning fees;
• original issues of tradable licences, eg taxi licences
• extracts, copies and duplicates of births, deaths and marriage certificates;
• Freedom of Information (FOI) charges;
• adoption fees;
• compulsory charges for domestic waste removal; and
• court fees.

Fines and penalties are not subject to GST and therefore do not require listing in the

determination.

Items which are fees for a service are subject to GST and include:

• inspection and testing fees
• fees for use of public land
• fees for attendance by officers at events
• cemetery, burial and cremation fees.

The Determination will be made as soon as it is formally agreed by notice from the

States and Territories.

A full copy of the list of taxes and charges that will not be subject to GST will be

publicly available on the Treasury website shortly at http://www.treasury.gov.au

CANBERRA

31 January 2000

Departmental Contact: Rob Heferen (02) 6263 4351