Hi all
I'm looking to buy some probiotics online as I'm following a protocol similar to GAPS (ie. gut healing). I found a site which has no ABN listed, and doing a whois lookup is looking a bit dodgy. I'm fairly convinced it's a scam site but I wanted to check with you guys - if an Australian shopping site has no ABN listed, is that a possible (strong) sign that it's a scam site?
Thanks!
Link?
I just did some quick googling, and it looks like only companies must display ACN/ABN on documents. If your entity is registered for GST it must also quote the ABN.
So there could be legitimate small businesses (sole traders/partnerships) that turn over less than the GST trigger of $75k who don't appear to have to list an ABN.
In these circumstances they would not be able to charge GST.
This arrangement makes little sense if they are selling goods which would have GST applied at the wholesale level that they then could not claim back.
It is different if they are a cleaner or hairdresser with minimal GST inputs.
So I conclude probably scammy.
They don't need to claim the gst back. They can deduct the whole invoice.
Not sure what you mean? If they buy products to resell (like probiotics in OPs post) they can't claim the GST input if they are not registered.
what i mean is that they don't need to claim the 10% gst back from the ato when buying stock or supplies. they can deducted the cost of probiotics on their bas.
@whooah1979:
Sorry, I see what you mean. I was mixing up inc and ex-gst in my head as I thought about buy costs and sell prices. You are correct. If they don't collect GST it doesn't really come into the equation. I haven't given it enough thought before. I guess you are actually slightly better off if you can avoid registering for GST as you skip collecting the GST on your margin.
Thanks for educating me!
Agree with nocure, ABN must be listed. Of course, I have seen legit businesses fail this hurdle, but it does make them seem more dodgy…
OK, thanks so much everyone. There's gotta be a reason why they're so cheap… to draw in the suckers. I'm definitely more enlightened now on the ABN front. Thanks all!
The ABN MUST be shown on the tax invoices, and advertising. There isn't a requirement to have it shown anywhere else.
Abn number has to be shown on all print and electronic media.