Should you pay GST when visiting a doctor?
Generally, medical services delivered by a doctor (e.g. services for which a Medicare benefit is payable or other medical services necessary for the appropriate treatment of a patient) would be GST-free. A doctor would not charge GST on the supply of such medical services but can claim input tax credits on purchases necessary to make the supply.
However, some health services such as cosmetic procedures (e.g. the removal of a tattoo) where no Medicare benefit is payable, are not GST-free.
A medical report supplied by a doctor will only be GST-free where a Medicare benefit is payable for the medical report. Therefore, the cost of a medical report provided to a third party for purposes other than for the medical treatment of a patient (e.g. medical reports issued to insurance companies or solicitors acting in personal injury cases), will be subject to GST.
Nexia Australia has extensive experience with tax issues affecting people in the health industry. Please speak to your Nexia representative is you would like more information.
No deduction if no withholding from 1 July 2019
As mentioned in a previous Top Tax Tips , from 1 July 2019, employers can only claim a tax deduction for payments made to workers (i.e. employees or contractors) if the employer has complied with the specific withholding and reporting obligations applicable to a particular payment.
Although these new rules only apply from 1 July 2019, employers might take this opportunity to check their compliance with the PAYG withholding tax rules applicable to payments of salary, wages, commissions, bonuses or allowances to an employee, payments of directors’ fees and payments to contractors especially if they do not have an ABN.
Your Nexia representative would be pleased to review what systems are in place to ensure compliance with the ever-changing income tax (PAYG), fringe benefits tax and superannuation laws. If necessary, we can redesign systems to generate efficiencies and cost savings in complying with those laws. This will hold any business in good stead in the event of a review by the ATO and will reduce exposure to ATO penalties.
Increased data matching on shares
Because of an increase in data matching capabilities, the ATO will now be able to compare share data (about 500 million records in respect of 2.1 million individuals) obtained from ASIC, to information reported on tax returns.
The data will include details of the price, quantity and time of individual trades dating back to 2014 and will complement information the ATO already receives from brokers, share registries and exchanges.
Please ensure that you advise your Nexia representative of any shares bought or sold during any income year. The tax law requires that records of shareholdings must be retained for 5 years after the shares were sold. Your Nexia firm has systems to maintain capital gains tax and dividend information that can take the stress out of retaining such information.