Private village providers lose latest fight with ATO over GST
The Australian Taxation Office has come out in top in the continuing battle over whether retirement village developers can claim the 10 per cent GST on their costs, the same as normal housing.
Last week, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in Brisbane found the case in favour of the Tax Office, but developers are certain to appeal the decision in the Federal Court.
While Not For Profits developers can recover the money spent on projects, private developers can’t which put them at a disadvantage according to Matthew Cridland, the head of GST in Australia for law firm, DLA Piper (pictured).
“For large projects, land acquisition and development costs can readily exceed $100 million, plus $10 million GST,” he said.
“For-profit operators won’t be able to recover the $10 million as a full credit, potentially making the project unviable.”
