Food and GST

Did you know that some fresh foods – such as salads, sushi and cooked pasta with sauce – may be subject to GST?

If you operate a GST-registered food business, you’ll need to include GST where your food is:

  • for consumption on the premises where it is sold (for example, sold at a restaurant or cafe)

  • hot food for consumption away from the premises where it is sold (for example, a takeaway meal with a hot component)

  • ‘food marketed as a prepared meal’ (which can include some salads).

You need to weigh up a number of factors to work out if your food is ‘food marketed as a prepared meal’, including the following:

  • Does the packaging and labelling indicate it is a prepared meal (for example, referred to as lunch)?

  • Does the menu or signage at the point of sale indicate the food is marketed as a prepared meal (for example, ‘lunch to go’)?

  • Does it include all of the necessary ingredients for a complete meal?

  • Is it packaged for immediate consumption and cannot be resealed?

  • Is it supplied with cutlery and a napkin?

  • Is it priced similar to other comparable prepared meals?

  • Is it competing with other takeaway meals?

Source : ATO Small Buisness 1 December 2017

Reproduced with the permission of the Australian Tax Office. This article was originally published on https://www.ato.gov.au/newsroom/smallbusiness/GST-and-excise/Food-and-GST/
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