How is GST recorded and why is it neither revenue nor an expense for the business?
Record the goods and services tax on sales and purchases using source documents and report the net GST liability
GST is collected on sales and paid on purchases. The business holds it on behalf of the ATO, so GST collected is a liability and GST paid reduces that liability; the net is remitted, not treated as revenue or expense.
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What this dot point is asking
You need to identify GST on source documents, record the GST component separately in journals, and calculate the net GST payable to the ATO.
GST and source documents
A tax invoice is the source document that triggers GST recording. It shows the price, the GST, and the GST-inclusive total. For a GST-registered business, GST flows through balance sheet accounts, not the income statement.
Extracting GST from a total
If a figure is GST-inclusive, the GST is one eleventh of it, because the total represents 110 percent.
Recording GST in journals
On a credit sale, the debtor is debited with the full inclusive amount; sales is credited with the price; GST collected is credited with the tax. On a credit purchase, the asset or expense is debited with the price, GST paid is debited with the tax, and the creditor is credited with the inclusive total.
Why GST is a balance sheet item
Because the business merely collects GST for the government, it cannot be income, and the GST paid on purchases is recoverable, so it cannot be a cost. The net GST sits as a current liability (GST payable) when collected exceeds paid, or a current asset (GST refundable) when paid exceeds collected.