# Can you claim GST credits on these items



## letmethehellin

Doing my Bas and looking back on expenses I've spent.

Do the following items include GST that you could claim as a credit?


Drivers Authority (QLD)
Car Insurance
Car Transfer fee (Private buying)
Car Rego


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## χ²(1)

letmethehellin said:


> 1) Drivers Authority (QLD)
> 2) Car Insurance
> 3) Car Transfer fee (Private buying)
> 4) Car Rego


1) No
2) Maybe
3) No
4) No


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## Jobless Broke

Note you have to keep a logbook on your driving. You can only claim the percentage that you use for your (Ride share) Driving.
Example: Uber Driving 80% and Private Driving 20% then you can only claim the portion that you use for business. 80% the 20% is non claimable.

Driver Authority (Yes) 100% of the fee. It is exclusively for Driving Uber. You would not need it if you were not driving ride share.
Car Insurance (Yes) % that is used for Uber Driving applies.
Car Transfer Fee (Yes) claim the entire fee it is a Tax. There is no GST on seconds. (% for Uber Driving applies)
Car Rego (Yes) It is a Tax claim the entire fee (% of uber driving applies)

Some Advice! Have an accountant or book keeper do your BAS. You may miss things that are claimable. It is well worth the money spent.


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## UberDriverAU

χ²(1) said:


> 4) No


That would depend on what state he's in. In WA car rego has a CTPI component and it is subject to GST. In other states CTPI is a separate transaction.



Jobless Broke said:


> Note you have to keep a logbook on your driving. You can only claim the percentage that you use for your (Ride share) Driving.
> Example: Uber Driving 80% and Private Driving 20% then you can only claim the portion that you use for business. 80% the 20% is non claimable.
> 
> Driver Authority (Yes) 100% of the fee. It is exclusively for Driving Uber. You would not need it if you were not driving ride share.
> Car Insurance (Yes) % that is used for Uber Driving applies.
> Car Transfer Fee (Yes) claim the entire fee it is a Tax. There is no GST on seconds. (% for Uber Driving applies)
> Car Rego (Yes) It is a Tax claim the entire fee (% of uber driving applies)
> 
> Some Advice! Have an accountant or book keeper do your BAS. You may miss things that are claimable. It is well worth the money spent.


He asked if they include GST and could claim GST credits for them, not about income tax deductions.


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## χ²(1)

UberDriverAU said:


> That would depend on what state he's in.


I assume he's in QLD (according to where he stated his DA was from)


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## BabyBoomer

Someone may correct me here (I may not be completely correct) but as a general rule, you can claim a GST credit on any expense that is used for purposes of earning the income that the GST is paid on. 

The real issue to be determined is whether or not the expense included a GST component, and this may require some research in the case of government fees & charges or items purchased from overseas or otherwise GST free.

I keep all my receipts for this purpose.

Cheers,

BB


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## Where to Mister?

BabyBoomer said:


> I keep all my receipts for this purpose.


Yes, this is the only way to be certain, and you would be required to keep tax invoices/receipts anyway.


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## lespaul

can i claim a portion of GST paid for car purchase even though car was bought 2 years before using it for Uber?

ATO determines the life of a mixed use passenger car to be five years so can i can use that figure to spread the total GST then the uber % of that?

do loan repayments have a GST component?


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## Jack Malarkey

lespaul said:


> can i claim a portion of GST paid for car purchase even though car was bought 2 years before using it for Uber?
> 
> ATO determines the life of a mixed use passenger car to be five years so can i can use that figure to spread the total GST then the uber % of that?
> 
> do loan repayments have a GST component?


(1) No. You need to be carrying on the enterprise at the time of purchase to claim any GST input tax credit.

(2) No. Financial supplies (including loans) don't attract GST.


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## lespaul

Jack Malarkey said:


> (1) No. You need to be carrying on the enterprise at the time of purchase to claim any GST input tax credit.
> 
> (2) No. Financial supplies (including loans) don't attract GST.


Thankyou

Are new tyres capital equipment?


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## Jack Malarkey

No. You're repairing the motor vehicle by replacing parts.


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## lespaul

Jack Malarkey said:


> No. You're repairing the motor vehicle by replacing parts.


Thank you!!

Is the Uber Service fee a non-capital equipment purchase? I can't see where in my BAS it offsets the gross income


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## Jack Malarkey

lespaul said:


> Thank you!!
> 
> Is the Uber Service fee a non-capital equipment purchase? I can't see where in my BAS it offsets the gross income


No. At present, Uber doesn't charge GST on its service fee so there's no input tax credit to claim. From 1 August 2017, it will charge GST but only if you haven't advised them of your ABN.

Note that the BAS will soon be simpler: see https://uberpeople.net/threads/making-gst-reporting-easier.186344/.


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## letmethehellin

Regarding BAS 

G1 Total Sales - This is inclusive of GST yeah?


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## Jack Malarkey

letmethehellin said:


> Regarding BAS
> 
> G1 Total Sales - This is inclusive of GST yeah?


Yeah.


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## lespaul

Jobless Broke said:


> Note you have to keep a logbook on your driving. You can only claim the percentage that you use for your (Ride share) Driving.
> Example: Uber Driving 80% and Private Driving 20% then you can only claim the portion that you use for business. 80% the 20% is non claimable.
> 
> Driver Authority (Yes) 100% of the fee. It is exclusively for Driving Uber. You would not need it if you were not driving ride share.
> Car Insurance (Yes) % that is used for Uber Driving applies.
> Car Transfer Fee (Yes) claim the entire fee it is a Tax. There is no GST on seconds. (% for Uber Driving applies)
> Car Rego (Yes) It is a Tax claim the entire fee (% of uber driving applies)
> 
> Some Advice! Have an accountant or book keeper do your BAS. You may miss things that are claimable. It is well worth the money spent.


just a little clarification questions here; the question was with regard to 'GST' but you are saying to claim the entire fee or portion thereof, do you mean the GST component of the fee/service?


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## UberDriverAU

χ²(1) said:


> I assume he's in QLD (according to where he stated his DA was from)


Opps, I thought that said OLD for some reason, lol.


Jack Malarkey said:


> No. At present, Uber doesn't charge GST on its service fee so there's no input tax credit to claim. From 1 August 2017, it will charge GST but only if you haven't advised them of your ABN.
> 
> Note that the BAS will soon be simpler: see https://uberpeople.net/threads/making-gst-reporting-easier.186344/.


Jack, wouldn't Uber be obliged to pay GST from July 1st for any transactions that they didn't have driver ABNs? They're not going to increase the price for such transactions until August 1st though.


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## Jack Malarkey

Thanks, UberDriverAU. Yes, that would be correct.


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## randyclark

Thanks for the tip


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## lespaul

can i add another question to this thread (GST related)

are any health services for a ride share driver considered a genuine cost to provide the service?

my trips to the chiro have increased dramatically due to driving


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## letmethehellin

Also while we are on the topic of GST

I spoke to the ATO today, and we went around in circles on the following topic. 

An ABN is linked to a person. no matter ho many businesses you operate you use the same ABN. 
Uber is a Business, you must pay GST from the first dollar
If you have a second business, say a lawn mowing business, you dont have to pay GST till 75,000

However. because your ABN s registered for GST (because of uber), you now have to pay GST on your second business, even if it only brings you say $10,000 a year. 

But according to them, im not looking at it right..


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## Where to Mister?

If you are registered for GST you have to pay the GST on ALL your enterprises' incomes (with one or two exceptions). So, since you must be registered for Uber, your lawn mowing business income also must be GST-compliant. You also get to claim ITC on your business-related expenses. 

The ATO website has good explanations.


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## UberDriverAU

letmethehellin said:


> Also while we are on the topic of GST
> 
> I spoke to the ATO today, and we went around in circles on the following topic.
> 
> An ABN is linked to a person. no matter ho many businesses you operate you use the same ABN.
> Uber is a Business, you must pay GST from the first dollar
> If you have a second business, say a lawn mowing business, you dont have to pay GST till 75,000
> 
> However. because your ABN s registered for GST (because of uber), you now have to pay GST on your second business, even if it only brings you say $10,000 a year.
> 
> But according to them, im not looking at it right..


The only way to get around that is creating a separate legal entity (eg. a company) and operate some of your business through that. Each entity has a separate GST registration status.


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## letmethehellin

Where to Mister? said:


> If you are registered for GST you have to pay the GST on ALL your enterprises' incomes (with one or two exceptions). So, since you must be registered for Uber, your lawn mowing business income also must be GST-compliant. You also get to claim ITC on your business-related expenses.
> 
> The ATO website has good explanations.


So what's the deal with the 75.000 threshold ?
If I wasn't doing Uber I wouldn't have to report of give get to the ato?

Itc are gst credits yeah?
What if your expenses are labour only, there's no gst on that?


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## Jack Malarkey

letmethehellin said:


> So what's the deal with the 75.000 threshold ?
> If I wasn't doing Uber I wouldn't have to report of give get to the ato?
> 
> Itc are gst credits yeah?
> What if your expenses are labour only, there's no gst on that?


That is correct. There is no threshold for those providing taxi (including rideshare) services. And once you have to pay GST for one enterprise, you pay it for all your enterprises (unless they are owned by a separate entity such as a company).

Yes, ITC are GST credits. It stands for 'input tax credits', the technical term for GST credits.



lespaul said:


> can i add another question to this thread (GST related)
> 
> are any health services for a ride share driver considered a genuine cost to provide the service?
> 
> my trips to the chiro have increased dramatically due to driving


Those costs would not be claimable for either GST or income tax purposes.


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## lui6155

lespaul said:


> can i add another question to this thread (GST related)
> 
> are any health services for a ride share driver considered a genuine cost to provide the service?
> 
> my trips to the chiro have increased dramatically due to driving


Not so sure I agree with you Jack that costs (eg remedial medical) incurred as a direct result of earning "small business" income are not deductible for income tax.
Have not considered this before but can attest to also requiring a few chiro visits as a result of sustained driving Q4 last year/rarely otherwise see the chiro.
To pass the general deductions test the expense must not be private or capital in nature and incurred in producing that income.

I feel it passes on all counts esp as we are operating a stand alone "small business" so entitled to the small business concessions. For example if you were a lawn mowing contractor employing staff you can legitimately claim for safety glasses and a visit to the doctor if the staff incurred an injury whilst at work..no different with Ubering imo.

Will add this to the claims for my tax accountants attention-thks Les.


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## UberDriverAU

I'm very sure the ATO would consider it a private expense lui. If professional footballers can't claim medical expenses as a tax deduction, it's very unlikely they'd give chiro the green light for Uber drivers.


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## lespaul

UberDriverAU said:


> I'm very sure the ATO would consider it a private expense lui. If professional footballers can't claim medical expenses as a tax deduction, it's very unlikely they'd give chiro the green light for Uber drivers.


professional footballers would have insurances covered by their employer as part of their package. As well as this, their club would foot huge bills for physio, chiro, medical and use these as tax deductions.


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## UberDriverAU

All true, but that doesn't change the fact that the ATO disallows such deductions by players. Uber drivers have no chance of claiming chiro expenses, and we all know Uber ain't going to foot the bill.


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## Lowestformofwit

UberDriverAU said:


> The only way to get around that is creating a separate legal entity (eg. a company) and operate some of your business through that. Each entity has a separate GST registration status.


An ABN-registered partnership with your significant other, children, sibling, or parent also fits the above separate entity test.
Then use that one for your under $75k other business (e.g. Lawnmowing).


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