Goods and Services Tax: Waiver of Tax Invoice Requirement (Corporate Card Statements) Determination 2020

Administered by Department of the Treasury

Legislation au F2020L00110 Not in force Legislative Instrument

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Explanatory Statement

 

Goods and Services Tax: Waiver of Tax Invoice Requirement (Corporate Card Statements) Determination 2020

 

 

General Outline of Instrument

  1. This instrument is made under subsection 29-10(3) of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999.
  2. Under subsection 33(3) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901, where an Act confers a power to make, grant or issue any instrument of a legislative or administrative character (including rules, regulations or by-laws) the power shall be construed as including a power exercisable in the like manner and subject to the like conditions (if any) to repeal, rescind, revoke, amend, or vary any such instrument.
  3. This determination allows corporate card holders to claim input tax credits without holding a tax invoice in certain circumstances.
  4. The instrument is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislation Act 2003.
  5. This instrument replaces Goods and Services Tax: Waiver of Tax Invoice Requirement (Corporate Card Statements) Legislative Instrument 2017 F2017L01018 (the previous legislative instrument), registered on 14 August 2017.

 

Date of effect

6.                  The instrument is taken to have commenced on 15 August 2017, the date of commencement of the previous legislative instrument. It applies to tax periods that commence on or after 14 August 2017, being the application date in the previous legislative instrument.

7.                  The instrument applies retrospectively to ensure that taxpayers will not be disadvantaged by the unintentional omission of a corporate card provider from the previous legislative instrument if they have been issued a corporate card statement and require relief from holding a tax invoice. For the purposes of subsection 12(2) of the Legislation Act 2003 this instrument does not adversely affect the rights or liabilities of any person other than the Commonwealth.

 

What is this instrument about

8.                  The purpose of this instrument is to include a corporate card provider that was omitted from the previous legislative instrument.

 

What is the effect of this instrument

9.                  The effect of this instrument is, for tax periods commencing on or after 14 August 2017 that the GST tax invoice record keeping concessions contained in the revoked instrument continue to operate in substantially the same way.

10.              The instrument allows an additional corporate card provider to issue corporate card statements that meet the requirements of this instrument.

11.              Compliance Cost Impact: Minor – There will be no or minimal impacts for both implementation and ongoing compliance costs. The legislative instrument is minor or machinery in nature.

 

Background

12.              This determination replaces Goods and Services Tax: Waiver of Tax Invoice Requirement (Corporate Card Statements) Legislative Instrument 2017 F2017L01018, registered on 14 August 2017.

13.              This determination includes a corporate card provider entity that was omitted from the previous legislative instrument. This determination is otherwise substantially the same as the previous legislative instrument that it replaces. An entity that satisfied the requirements of the previous legislative instrument will satisfy the requirements of this determination.

14.              The concession in this instrument and the revoked instrument are granted to reduce compliance costs for entities claiming input tax credits for creditable acquisitions, by permitting the entity (the holder of certain corporate cards) to claim an input tax credit without holding a tax invoice. Instead, the cardholder was required to hold a corporate card statement (issued by the corporate card provider) that met certain information requirements specified in the instruments.

 

Explanation

15.              Provided the requirements of this instrument are met, for the purposes of attributing an input tax credit for a creditable acquisition to a tax period, a cardholder is not required (under subsection 29-10(3) of the GST Act) to hold a tax invoice for the creditable acquisition (section 7). In summary, the corporate card statement may be used to claim input tax credits where:

(a)               the cardholder holds a corporate card statement for the creditable acquisition that contains the information set out in section 9

(b)               the GST related information on the corporate card statement meets the accuracy requirements set out in section 12

(c)                the cardholder meets the requirements of section 13 that ensure the cardholders use the statement accurately to claim input tax credits

(d)               section 11 does not apply. This section requires the cardholder to hold a tax invoice in relation to the acquisition where the statement shows an estimated GST amount, or there is an error in relation to the acquisition, and

(e)               the card statement issued by the corporate card provider meets the information requirements specified in this instrument by using either of two methods:

(i)                  the accurate method provided by paragraph 8(2)(b), or

(ii)                the signed statement method provided by paragraph 8(2)(c).

16.              For low value transactions (currently those that do not exceed $75 in value) there is no requirement under subsection 29-10(3) of the GST Act to hold a tax invoice. Therefore, this instrument is not applicable to low value transactions.

 

Consultation

17.              Subsection 17(1) of the Legislation Act 2003 requires, before the making of a determination, that the Commissioner is satisfied that appropriate and reasonably practicable consultation has been undertaken.

18.              For this instrument, broad consultation was undertaken for a period of 2 weeks commencing on 21 August 2019.

19.              The draft instrument and draft explanatory statement were published on the ATO Legal database. Publication was advertised via the ‘What’s new’ page on that system and via the ‘Open Consultation’ page on ato.gov.au.  Major tax and superannuation publishers and associations monitor these pages and include the details in the daily and weekly Alerts and newsletters to their subscribers and members. This ensures advice of the draft is disseminated widely across the tax professional community, and that they are in an informed position to provide comments and feedback.

20.              Targeted consultation was also undertaken for a period of 2 weeks.  Copies of the draft legislative instrument and explanatory statement were sent to the corporate card providers listed in the legislative instrument for comment and feedback.

21.              Feedback was received and minor typographical changes were able to be made to the legislative instrument. Parties who provided feedback were contacted to thank them for their feedback and to explain how their feedback was able to be used in this process.

 

 

 

 

 

Legislative References

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

Acts Interpretation Act 1901

Legislation Act 2003

Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011


Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights

 

Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011

 

Goods and Services Tax: Waiver of Tax Invoice Requirement (Corporate Card Statements) Determination 2020

This Legislative Instrument is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.

 

Overview of the Instrument

This Legislative Instrument allows corporate card holders to claim input tax credits without holding a tax invoice in certain circumstances.

 

Human rights implications

This Legislative Instrument does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms as it is considered to be minor or machinery in nature and does not substantially change the law.

 

Conclusion

This Legislative Instrument is compatible with human rights as it does not raise any human rights issues.

Overview

The Goods and Services Tax: Waiver of Tax Invoice Requirement (Corporate Card Statements) Determination 2020 was enacted to address a specific gap in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, particularly concerning the use of corporate card statements in lieu of tax invoices for input tax credits. This instrument, made under subsection 29-10(3) of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999, provides a concession that allows corporate card holders to claim input tax credits without the need for a tax invoice, provided certain conditions are met. This was introduced to streamline the process for entities claiming input tax credits and to reduce compliance costs. The determination was enacted by the Commonwealth Parliament and its policy objective is to offer relief from the requirement of holding a tax invoice, thereby facilitating smoother business operations and tax compliance for corporate card users. This instrument is a legislative one, as defined under the Legislation Act 2003, and it replaces a previous legislative instrument from 2017, continuing to provide the same concessions but with the inclusion of an additional corporate card provider.

Scope and Application

The Goods and Services Tax: Waiver of Tax Invoice Requirement (Corporate Card Statements) Determination 2020 applies to corporate card holders and corporate card providers, allowing the former to claim input tax credits without holding a tax invoice in specific circumstances. The instrument is designed to streamline tax compliance for entities using corporate credit cards by permitting the use of corporate card statements that meet specified information requirements instead of tax invoices. This legislative instrument is applicable to all Commonwealth jurisdictions and is effective for tax periods commencing on or after 14 August 2017. The instrument does not apply to low-value transactions, which are defined as those not exceeding $75 in value. It also extends retrospectively to provide relief to taxpayers who may have been disadvantaged by the omission of a corporate card provider from the previous legislative instrument, ensuring no adverse impact on the rights or liabilities of any person other than the Commonwealth. The instrument is a minor legislative instrument and replaces the Goods and Services Tax: Waiver of Tax Invoice Requirement (Corporate Card Statements) Legislative Instrument 2017, incorporating an additional corporate card provider.

Key Provisions

The main operative sections of the Goods and Services Tax: Waiver of Tax Invoice Requirement (Corporate Card Statements) Determination 2020 (the Determination) allow corporate card holders to claim input tax credits without holding a tax invoice under specific conditions. Section 7 of the Determination explains that if the cardholder possesses a corporate card statement that meets the prescribed information requirements and accuracy standards (as outlined in sections 9 and 12), and the cardholder adheres to the conditions set out in section 13, then they may claim an input tax credit without needing a tax invoice. This applies unless the conditions in section 11, which requires the cardholder to hold a tax invoice for acquisitions where the statement shows an estimated GST amount or contains an error, are applicable. Furthermore, the corporate card statement must be issued by a corporate card provider that satisfies the requirements specified in the Determination (section 8). Notably, this waiver does not apply to low-value transactions (currently those not exceeding $75 in value) as they are already exempt from the tax invoice requirement under the Goods and Services Tax Act 1999. The Determination imposes several obligations and requirements on the parties it governs. Primarily, corporate card holders must ensure that their corporate card statements contain the specified information and meet the accuracy requirements (sections 9 and 12). They must also adhere to the conditions in section 13 to ensure they use the statements accurately for claiming input tax credits. Additionally, corporate card providers must issue statements that meet the requirements set out in section 8, which can be achieved using either the accurate method or the signed statement method. If a cardholder needs to hold a tax invoice, this requirement is specified in section 11, which mandates that the cardholder must retain the tax invoice in cases where the statement shows an estimated GST amount or contains an error. These obligations are critical to maintaining compliance with the GST Act and ensuring that input tax credits are correctly attributed. There are no explicit offences or penalties mentioned in the Determination itself, as it is largely procedural and designed to streamline the compliance process for corporate card holders. However, failure to comply with the requirements set out in the Determination could potentially lead to broader GST compliance issues. Under the GST Act, non-compliance with tax invoice requirements can result in penalties. For example, under section 28-50 of the GST Act, a taxpayer who fails to provide a tax invoice or retains a tax invoice that is not in accordance with the law can be subject to penalties. The penalties for such offences can vary, but in the case of serious or repeated contraventions, the maximum penalty can be up to 25 penalty points for each contravention, which equates to a fine of $2,625 for individuals and $13,125 for entities. Therefore, while the Determination does not impose penalties directly, non-compliance with its requirements could lead to penalties under the broader GST Act.

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Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at 26 August 2026. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au.