Australia: GST on digital products from non-resident suppliers now covered in GST law
The Australian government has withdrawn the Decree on Goods and Services Tax (GST) on supplies of digital products made to Australian recipients from non-resident suppliers, with effect from 2 March 2023. This decision was taken due to legislative changes in the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999, which now ensures that GST is applied consistently to all supplies of digital products and other imported services to Australian consumers, , so the separate Decree is no longer required. The Goods and Services Tax itself now cover the taxability of remote services and low value imports. It also relieves non-resident suppliers from the obligation to account for GST on certain supplies.
Current ATO view on the GST treatment of a supply of digital products to Australian residents from non-resident suppliers can be found in two rulings: Goods and Services Tax Ruling GSTR 2019/1 and Goods and Services Tax Ruling GSTR 2017/1.
* From the early release of this article it could be understood that Australia would no longer tax GST on digital products from non-resident suppliers. This is not the case. For non-resident taxpayers nothing changes.
Source: ato.gov.au
