The ATO view of how property transactions should be treated for GST purposes has continued to change significantly over the past year. This has been driven by the Commissioner's own rulings program and a number of significant court cases that have been decided.
This presentation covers the new draft ruling GSTR 2008/D5 which discusses the ATO's view of the treatment of new residential premises when their proposed use changes from sale to rental. Given the current downturn, does this provide a developer with an opportunity to claim additional credits for past transactions or will the ATO's view create additional compliance issues that will need to be carefully managed? This presentation also covers the decisions in recent court cases and discuss what this will mean in practice for property developers.