There is usually no GST for NDIS services – if you meet the conditions in s38-38 GST Act.
GST for NDIS Services
If you are an allied health provider and registered with the NDIS, all your NDIS services should be GST exempt per s38-38 GST – generally speaking. The devil is in the detail. So let’s go through this step-by-step.
This is an old article – click here for the up-to-date version and here for more articles about GST for Health Professionals.
GST for NDIS Services
GST is a big topic for NDIS providers. There are five issues to look out for.
1 – Which GST Exemption
The NDIS exemption in s38-38 New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 – in short GST Act – is an important one for NDIS providers. It makes pretty much all NDIS services GST exempt. But it is not the only exemption you can refer to. As an allied health provider, you have five possible GST exemptions per Subdiv 38-B GST Act.
A – Hospital (s38-20)
B – Aged care (residential care (s38-25), home care (s38-30) or flexible care (s38-35))
C – Disability (disability support provided to NDIS participants (s38-38) or specialist disability services (s38-40))
D – Medical services (s38-7) including Medicare
E – Other health services (s38-10)
Your service might qualify under two or more exemptions. But that makes no difference. The main thing is that you qualify for at least one.
2 – GST Registration
Even if all your services are GST- exempt, you still need to register for GST if your turnover exceeds AUD 75,000 for any given 12-month period. Your turnover includes GST-exempt sales. Below the threshold of AUD 75,000, you can still register voluntarily.
Contrary to what you might think, a GST registration might save you money – a lot. The only time a GST registration will cost you money is if a large part of your services are NOT GST exempt and are made to recipients who are not registered for GST. So even if your turnover is below AUD 75,000, consider registering after you have spoken with your accountant.
3 – Conditions in s38-38 GST Act
Not we get into the nitty-gritty details of your NDIS exemption. Your service to an NDIS participant is GST free, if:
A – Your patient is an NDIS participant as defined in the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (‘NDIS Act’).
B – This NDIS participant has an NDIS plan.
C – That NDIS plan is in effect under s37 NDIS Act.
D – That NDIS plan lists your type of services in their Plan Statement (s33 (2) NDIS Act).
E – You have a written service agreement with the participant or their nominee.
F – This agreement identifies the participant.
G – This agreement includes your Supply Statement linking your services to the Plan Statement.
Plan Statement
Your patient’s NDIS plan will include a statement in which they specify the reasonable and necessary supports funded under the NDIS. This is required under s33 (2) NDIS Act. Your service agreement must link to these reasonable and necessary supports.
Supply Statement
You link your service agreement to the reasonable and necessary supports listed in the Plan Statement by putting the following Supply Statement into your service agreement. Supply is a word from the GST Act. The GST Act calls your services a supply.
“Our services outlined in this service agreement are a supply of one ore more of the reasonable and necessary supports specified in the statement included, under subsection s33 (2) of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013, in your plan, with you being the participant of the plan.”
4 – NDIS Plan
When you look at the conditions to qualify for the NDIS exemption, a lot rides on the NDIS plan. But your patients have no legal obligation to show you their NDIS plan. If they don’t, how do you know they even have one? And if they do, that your services are listed in the Plan Statement? And if they are, that your services will still be within the plan’s budget?
You don’t. So here is how this plays out.
A – NDIA Managed
As you know an NDIS participant can manage the plan themselves or engage a plan manager. But instead they can also go for an NDIA managed plan. In that case you as the supplier lodge a service booking before providing the service. Once your service booking is accepted, you know for sure that your service is on plan and on budget. If that is the case, you can stop here. Just invoice without GST.
B – Another GST Exemption
Check whether another exemption could apply. There are five exemptions – see 1 above. If another GST exemption would also apply, then you don’t need to worry about the NDIS exemption. Then it doesn’t matter, whether your patients have an effective NDIS plan or not. Just invoice without GST.
C – Tough Love
If there is no NDIS plan and no other GST exemption in sight, then one option is to go for tough love. Tough love is “No Plan – No Exemption”. If you can’t see an NDIS plan, you just assume that there is none. And charge GST.
D – Sign Here
The alternative to tough love is signing. If your patient assures you that they have an effective plan, you insert the paragraph listed below into the service agreement for your patient to sign. With this signature, you can assume that your service is GST exempt. Here is a draft – adjust or rewrite as you see fit:
“You hereby confirm that you have a current plan (‘your NDIS plan’) approved by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) and in effect under s37 of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (NDIS Act).
You hereby confirm that the type, time and quantity of services you have requested from us are specified in your NDIS plan as reasonable and necessary support as per s33 (2) NDIS Act, are within the budget for this type of services in your NDIS plan and are of a kind referred to in s38-38 (d) A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (‘GST Act’).
This service agreement between you as participant or nominee of the participant and us as the supplier is legally binding and is the written agreement required in s38-38 (c ) GST Act.
Based on these affirmations we will treat our services to you as exempt from GST per s38-38 GST Act.
You hereby agree that you will inform us of any changes to your circumstances that would affect the above, for example if:
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- You no longer have a NDIS plan in effect
- Our services exceed the budget in your NDIS plan
- Our services are no longer listed in your NDIS plan.”
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E – Charge GST
And if nothing else works, you charge GST.
5 – What is Covered
As you provide your services, there will be outliers. Things you usually don’t provide or do, but at times you do. Do those outliers fall under the NDIS exemption? A common example are assessment reports.
It all comes back to the NDIS plan outlined above. If your service booking for NDIA managed plans gets accepted, they are covered. If your client gives you in writing that the one-off services or products are listed in the Plan Statement, then they fall under the NDIS exemption.
So this is a short overview. We hope it helps. Please call or email if you get stuck.
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Disclaimer: numba does not provide specific financial or tax advice in this article. All information on this website is of a general nature only. It might no longer be up to date or correct. You should contact us directly or seek other accredited tax advice when considering whether the information is suitable to your circumstances.
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