GST Basis Explained

The Invoice Basis

Under this basis, you account for or claim GST for a transaction in the tax period in which the invoice is issued as opposed to the period in which payment is received or made.

In general, you will be required to hold a tax invoice in order to claim a tax credit for transactions of more than $50 (including GST).

You will have to keep a list of debtors / customers and creditors / suppliers as at the end of each period. This is because you will have to show a record of items sold and received, and these will not be reflected in your cash statements.

The perceived advantage of the invoice basis is that, if you are the buyer, you can claim GST on a purchase before paying for it. Conversely, if you are the supplier the disadvantage is that you must account to the IRD for GST before receiving payment.

Even if you generally use the payments basis (see below), you are required to use the Invoice basis to account for some major property transactions with delayed settlement dates. This applies to any single transaction in which you supply property or services of a value of more than $250,000 (including GST), if the settlement date, or the date when the services must be performed, is to be more than one year from the date of the agreement.

The Payments Basis (or Cash Basis)

Using this method involves accounting for GST for a transaction in the taxable period in which you make or receive payment.

As with the Invoice basis, you will generally be required to hold a tax invoice in order to claim a tax credit for transactions of more than $50 (including GST). Unlike the Invoice basis, you do not account for debtors / customers and creditors / suppliers at the end of each taxable period.

There are restrictions on who may use the payments basis. It can be used by any registered person if any of these criteria apply:

• The total value of taxable supplies for the last 12 months was $2 million or less.
• The total value of taxable supplies is not likely to be more than $2 million in any 12-month period beginning on the first day of any month.
• The payments basis would be the most appropriate one to use, taking into account the nature, value and volume of taxable supplies and the accounting system used.

These criteria don't apply, however, to non-profit organisations and some local councils. These bodies can use the payments basis even if they don't satisfy any of these criteria.

The perceived advantages of the payments basis is that in supplying goods and services you need to account for GST only when you have received payment. Conversely, as a buyer you cannot claim GST on purchases until after you have paid the supplier. The payments basis is seen by the IRD as suitable for small businesses currently using the cash system, because their cash books can easily be amended to account for GST.

Also see Choosing your GST Accounting Basis on the IRD Website