re; What constitues a TAX Reciept ?

re; What constitutes a TAX Receipt ? according to ATO guidelines ?

The reason I ask is that I have an emailed tax receipt / confirmation of payment for repair work carried out on my investment property, but it does not have any invoice number on it. It has the business name, ABN, the date, the amount paid, addressed to me, but there is no reference number that would identify the transaction uniquely for that day. Would this satisfy the ATO requirement / definition of a tax receipt ?

I think a tax receipt has to have an ABN number on it as well, as the date of service or product purchase.

Geez


Some of the receipts I've had from Newsagents for Stationery (or worse yet Deli's) have been very non-descript. At the Deli/Newagent I've asked for a tax receipt and gotten a non-descript till receipt, pushing further for a proper tax receipt, they whipped out a stamp and stamped the back with thier Business name, contact numbers etc (receipt still didn't specify what it was for though) Wottayadoo

hwd007,
The following is a cut an paste from one of my booklets but it lost its set out when I copied it across, so if it is too hard to understand you will have to go to free publications on www.bantacs.com.au it is on the third page of the GST booklet.
The requirements for a tax invoice vary depending on the amount it is for.
Note even if you are not registered for GST owning a rental property still fits the definition of an enterprise so you would be required to withhold 46.5% if they do not give you an ABN and the amount is for more than $55

Check list before paying invoices
After the 1st July, 2000 please go over the following check list for each contractor before making a payment that you intend claiming an input credit for:


Is the Invoice for more than $55 GST inclusive or $50 excluding GST?
No 
Pay without question. No need to withhold tax and can claim input credit.
Yes 
Has the Supplier Provided an Invoice? No  Withhold 46.5%of the total Invoice price to remit to ATO Ask Supplier for TFN
Yes 
Does the Invoice have an ABN? No  Withhold 46.5%of the total Invoice price to remit to ATO Ask Supplier for TFN
Yes 
Does the Invoice include the words “Tax Invoice,” the date, name of the supplier, the Tax inclusive price and a brief description of the goods supplied? No  No input credit can be claimed so this supply should be at least 1/11th cheaper than a correctly invoiced supply.
Yes 
Is the Invoice for more than $1,000? No  Bingo! Pay full amount of invoice & claim input credit.
Yes 
Does the Invoice include in addition to the above - the quantity of the goods or the extent of the services supplied, your name and address or name and ABN? No  No input credit can be claimed so this supply should be at least 1/11th cheaper than a correctly invoiced supply.
Yes 
Bingo! Pay full amount of invoice and Claim input tax credit.

Julia
www.bantacs.com.au

You know, this is just ridiculous. Just to pay a bill, which in my business I pay several, every day, to have to do this check list thing? When did small business become taxation specialists and why should responsibility for the administration of such taxation matters become OUR responsibility.

Yea I have seen the same with some businesses giving you a blank receipt with no identification of the business etc... Like these cheap two dollar shops etc... There are plenty of businesses that operate this way.

I bought a product over a period of 12 months about once every 3 months and on every occasion they initially failed to provide a receipt. I had to ask every time for a receipt and when I got the receipt it had no information identifying the company, so then I queried them, then only did they put a company stamp on it, every time this happened.

It seems obvious to me they are trying to avoid paying tax by not declaring their sales. It does seem like a common practice though amongst certain types of operators, mainly at the lower end of the market.

Anyway getting back on track, this receipt has no invoice number and I guess this is what I am trying to determine. i.e. For a valid tax receipt in terms of ATO acceptability, must you have an invoice number ? i.e. along with the other info identifying the service provider and service provided and the name of the person who has paid them ?

Seems to me that without an invoice number you could buy the same product or service twice or more from the same supplier on the same day, without actually knowing which is which item. From a taxation perspective if that's OK then in theory someone could duplicate receipts. On the flip side not having such a uniquely identifying trait like receipt number, could work against the purchaser if queried by the ATO.

The ATO may say "prove you purchased that item" and if the purchaser cant uniquely identify the exact item and this is cheked by the ATO with the service provider , I'm wondering if there may be a problem with claiming it as a tax deduction. i.e. it would be easy for the seller to delete duplicate transaction records. If cash was paid for the item there would be no paper trail of the transaction. You would then have to rely on witnesses to prove you made the purchase. Now this all sounds a bit far fetched I freely admit, but I suspect you get the point of what I'm saying.

Just seems a bit odd not having the unique number or identification aspect. I mean as I understand it this is the very point of having a receipt number.

hwd007, I remember talking about this at a GST seminar I once presented, and there are no legislative requirements for an invoice number.

If the invoice is below $1,000, it needs -
• the ABN of the supplier
• the GST inclusive price of a taxable supply
• The words "Tax Invoice" must be displayed prominently on the document
• Trading name of supplier
• Brief description of what is to be supplied

If it is over $1,000, it must also show
• ABN or address of recipient
• Name of recipient
• Quantity or volume of what was supplied
• Date of the issue of the invoice

When you get into the big bucks, cash is never handed over. It is usually cheques, direct deposit, credit card transactions or some other unique way that can be tracked.

This isn't something I worry about. The ATO only go down that path if they find evidence of something very shonky.

OK Thanks, that pretty much clears it up.

Doesn't everyone take photos of the people that work on their IP's?...including their business vehicle sitting in your IP's driveway (with registration plate showing), doors open all over the place, tools laying around and the said tradesman working on your property?

How about diary entries of calls from tenants requesting maintenance work required, calls to tradesmen, date work to be carried out, estimated costs.

I can pay anyone cash, but I still want a receipt when handing over the money and will definitely claim the expense as a deduction...whether the tradesman declares the income to the ATO is up to him or her.

Glenn

If your concern is that without a bonafide invoice you could be jeopardising any claim you intend to make for the said repairs in your tax rerurn by not having the appropriate expense substantiation, I'd suggest that it shouldn't matter whether or not the invoice has an ABN number quoted, whether or not GST has been added, or whether or not the words "tax invoice" are displayed on the invoice.

Assuming the expense has been incurred and you can prove it has been that should be sufficient.

Its up to the ATO to pursue him for non compliance with the provisons of ABN , the GST Act etc. Not your worry. You paid it you claim it - simple. Just get some evidence of payment.

However if you're registered for GST and want to claim any input credits then that's a different ball game. In that case, in the absence of an ABN AND over $87, you would also be obliged to deduct PAYG from the suppliers invoice and pay him the balance unless one of 4 exemptions applies

EDIT: After posting this I see it is an old thread going abck to 2007. That's weird as it was in my new posts list with what I'm sure was posts from today. Must be going mad...ha ha