GST impacts every business in Australia.

And it passes substantial administrative obligations on to the business owner (frankly the system is a form of outsourcing of the Tax Man’s work).

Staying on top of our GST obligations is paramount. All too often we see businesses fall behind and once they do, the problem can really start to run away from them (remember in virtually all businesses, every single dollar that comes into the business includes a little over 9 cents that aren’t really yours. This very quickly adds up).

There are of course complications with the GST system. Most will know that while GST applies to the majority of transactions, it doesn’t actually apply to every transaction.

These exemptions are actually the systems biggest flaw. As a tax collection mechanism, GST or other similar value-added taxes are amongst the most efficient, and the most difficult to avoid (especially given the move away from cash).

But when the Liberal Party were forced to make exceptions and exclusions in order to get their new tax into law, those lobbyists didn’t really appreciate the extra burden it placed on those responsible for the collection of GST, the business owners!

Property transactions are amongst the most complex. And given the amounts of money involved, are where the biggest risks and biggest errors occur (and when things go wrong with GST, they really go wrong).

International transactions also come with their significant GST issues.

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