Getting an ABN to Leverage Business Discounts

iamw0man on 07/04/2017 - 11:05

Hey OzBargain,

Just wondering if anyone has an ABN for the sole purpose of getting discounted rates with certain services. I had a friend mention this tactic regarding GoGet, a business account is free to sign up and you get unlimited drivers, which can save you a fair bit compared to the individual account prices. I know places like uber & airbnb also have business accounts but not sure if there's any financial benefit to them.

Is anyone using an ABN just for this purpose? Are there tax implications involved?

Financial

Comments

  • retiredfeline on 07/04/2017 - 11:11
    +1

    Remember that if you buy under an ABN, purchases will be recorded under your ABN. This in principle should match up with expenditure in your tax return under that ABN. If small amounts, may slip under the radar. But if no tax return at all under that ABN, this might trigger examination.

    Also at times the ABR will do random checks to ask if you are still conducting a business. You have to relinquish the ABN if you are not running a business any more.

    • geek001 on 07/04/2017 - 11:53

      What if you just quoted some random business ABN? :P

      • retiredfeline on 07/04/2017 - 11:58
        +2

        If you are going to do that then there's no need to apply for one. Carry on and let us know what happens. :D

      • lplau on 07/04/2017 - 13:39

        It might come under Fraud … if the company you are using gets investigated then it traces all the way back to you.
        Because i assume that some personal information will be given to the company + the ABN.

        Not sure if its worth saving a few bucks and getting slapped with Fraud a while later.

        • geek001 on 07/04/2017 - 15:27

          This started as a joke on my end, but as I did some research into this. There doesn't seemed to be any repercussions to quoting the wrong ABN whether intentionally or unintentionally in this case. It will only become a problem if you start issuing invoices using a false ABN(which there won't be because you are buying from your supplier rather than the other way around). Even then the onus falls on the payer to check if the ABN is invalid.

        • retiredfeline on 07/04/2017 - 15:40

          @geek001: Well if you quote the wrong ABN then your receipts can't be used to claim expenses. But then the OP isn't trying to claim expenses but to get "business" rates.

        • geek001 on 07/04/2017 - 15:52

          @greenpossum: Yep, I guess this hasn't been exploited much because business rates are not much cheaper normally. I can't think of an instance where I think to myself as a normal consumer, "I wish I had an ABN to get the discount".

        • retiredfeline on 07/04/2017 - 16:01

          @geek001: Might be able to get a few benefits until their sales critters find out you are not such a big spender after all, and the ABN is fake so they make you customer non grata. Perhaps the easiest legal way is just to find a sister-in-law or a friend of a friend with a business to buy the stuff for you at "business" rates, provided they don't try to claim it as a business expense on their tax return.

  • Diji1 on 07/04/2017 - 11:58

    You can do this but if you don't pass a minimum activity to classify as "operating as a business entity" then you are defrauding the gummints.

    I do know that for an auto electrician 20 years ago the minimum was fixing 5 cars a year or something like this.

  • talismansa on 07/04/2017 - 13:04
    +1

    As a legitimate business owner, I'd also like to know.

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