Property issues continue to be the biggest source of legal disputes in regards to the GST. The reasons for these are many including:
- The distinction between the GST treatment of the various forms of property, including residential premises
- The misinformation surrounding the application of the margin scheme to residential premises
- "Expert" opinions on GST matters by real estate agents and developers
- A lack of understanding of GST by both (or either) party of the transaction
- A lack of understanding of the details by some lawyers
- The complexity of the "supply of a going concern "provisions
In this paper, a number of cases will be examined as a practical application of the GST legislation to property transactions. These cases will lead to a number of variations that will be discussed in the paper to show the different GST outcomes that can arise as a result of different arrangements.
The contents of this paper is as follows:
- Overview
- The margin scheme
- Enterprise
- Property
- Joint venture or partnership
- Conclusion
Property issues continue to be the biggest source of legal disputes in regards to the GST.