Newsletter
February 2015 Newsletter
GST treatment of credit card surcharges - GSTR 2014-2
The ATO has issued a Ruling which explains the goods and services tax (GST) treatment of a surcharge imposed by a merchant on a customer in respect of a credit card transaction concerning supplies of goods or services by the merchant to the customer.
According to the Ruling, a credit card surcharge imposed by the merchant on the customer for a credit card transaction forms part of the consideration for the supply of the goods or services made by the merchant. The merchant will need to take into account the credit card surcharge that is connected with the supply of the goods or services when calculating the correct amount of GST.
The Ruling covers a number of scenarios involving credit card surcharges. The ATO provides the following basic example of a credit card surcharge imposed by a merchant on a customer for a purchase of a shirt, being a taxable supply:
Anna purchases a shirt with a price of $55. A sign at the store's counter states that a surcharge of 3% of the price will be imposed if payment is made by credit card. When Anna pays for the shirt using her credit card, the merchant imposes a surcharge of $1.65 on the sale. The price of the shirt is $56.65 as the $1.65 surcharge forms part of the consideration for the shirt. The GST payable in respect of the sale is $5.15, being 1/11th of the GST inclusive price of $56.65.
Note the ruling also discusses the ATO’s view on the GST treatment of surcharges imposed on debit card transactions.