Guide · GST on room hire: GST on room hire for specialist suites.

The short version

If your business is registered for GST, or required to be, the ATO says you are liable for GST on the rent you charge for commercial premises. Whether that covers the room fees, facilities fees and service fees your suite charges visiting specialists depends on what each arrangement actually supplies. That is a question for your accountant, not your software.

What software can do is make sure every month-end produces a tax invoice that shows what the ATO asks for, so the specialists you bill have what they need to claim GST credits, if they are entitled to them.

What the ATO says about commercial premises

• If you lease out commercial premises and are registered or required to be registered for GST, you are liable for GST on the rent you charge, and can generally claim GST credits on purchases related to leasing it. ATO: commercial property
• You must register for GST when your GST turnover is $75,000 or more. ATO: registering for GST
• A tenant can generally claim GST credits on rent only if both the tenant and the landlord are registered, or required to be registered, for GST.

What a tax invoice must show

The ATO’s tax invoice page sets out what a tax invoice must include. For sales of less than $1,000, it lists seven things:

1. that the document is intended to be a tax invoice
2. the seller’s identity
3. the seller’s Australian business number (ABN)
4. the date the invoice was issued
5. a brief description of the items sold, including the quantity (if applicable) and the price
6. the GST amount (if any) payable, or a statement such as “Total price includes GST” where the GST is exactly one-eleventh of the total
7. the extent to which each sale on the invoice is taxable

For sales of $1,000 or more, the invoice must also show the buyer’s identity or ABN. The ATO also says you must provide a tax invoice within 28 days if your customer asks for one, unless the sale is $82.50 or less including GST, and that tax invoices can be issued electronically, for example as a PDF.

Read the ATO’s tax invoice requirements

Room fees, facilities fees and service fees

Suites charge visiting specialists in different ways: a fee per session for a room, a facilities fee that bundles in reception and cleaning, a percentage of the specialist’s reported billings, or a mix. In billing terms, these are different line items with different bases. Showing them separately on the invoice, with dates, makes each month easy to check.

SuiteBook records each specialist’s dated arrangement, charges every session under it, and lists each session, fee and shared cost as its own line, with the subtotal, 10% GST and the total. See GST tax invoices.

Questions to ask your accountant