Supplier Refusing to Provide Tax Invoice after Payment Made

oztite on 05/03/2020 - 22:29

Long story short, my cousin runs a small reataurant business. One of the new suppliers is refusing to provide a tax invoice after he made a payment to them, instead only providing a bill summary inclusive of GST but with clearly written words "THIS IS NOT A TAX INVOICE". When he asked again for the tax invoice, the response was "get your tax lawyer to provide a written explanation why it is needed".

Apart from needing the invoice to claim back GST, he obviously needs it for tax deduction as well.

This is apparently an important supplier, one that he cannot afford to piss off. What should he do? And why are they refusing to issue a tax invoice?

Financial

Comments

  • [Deactivated] on 05/03/2020 - 22:30
    +8

    ATO

    PS. If your cousin cannot afford to lose this supplier, your cousin doesn't own the business. This company does.

    • oztite on 06/03/2020 - 09:25

      That's a good point, but I think it's not that uncommon for small businesses…

  • askme69 on 05/03/2020 - 22:47
    +1

    So long as the BILL SUMMARY has all the suppliers details and he paid him from an account via EFT, Credit Card etc. He is fine.

    He may need to provide some further docs in the future if quizzed by the ATO/Accountant. But the GST credit/debit is done by his BAS statements.

    • oztite on 06/03/2020 - 09:26

      Just missing the ABN, which he can easily find on ABN registry. The piece of paper does clearly say "This is not a tax invoice" though…

  • Mechz on 05/03/2020 - 23:05

    I think anything under $75 doesn't legally require a receipt. I imagine the purchase is over this so check with consumer affairs as to what your rights are.

    • oztite on 06/03/2020 - 09:26

      Sorry I should have explained the price, it was for about $20k… so definitely above the threshold

  • mskeggs on 06/03/2020 - 06:38
    +1

    If the supplier is registered for GST, and the item was sold for more than $82.50 they must supply a tax invoice.
    https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/GST/Tax-invoices/

    • oztite on 06/03/2020 - 09:30

      They are registered for GST, they CHARGED a GST, and the total cost is around $20k… they are just refusing to (or making it very very difficult) to give a tax invoice after my cousin already paid. I told him to threaten them with going to ATO but as I said in the post, he kinda badly needs this supplier.

      I don't know if the supplier has a bad accountant (genuinely ignorant) or is trying to pocket the GST that they charged by not declaring to ATO. It's an ongoing supplier too so this will happen again and again. I suppose he can just record the ABN on that sheet of paper that says "this is not a tax invoice" and use it as a tax invoice, but he's worried he may be in trouble if he uses that to claim back GST on BAS and also for tax deduction of business expenses…

  • Slippery Fish on 06/03/2020 - 07:17
    +3

    Lol is this a fresh veg supplier? The sort that runs out of their car delivering the good? If so he can't claim the GST because it's fresh produce.

    We owned a business in the restaurant trade, you are basically a tax collector if you make your own food…

    • spal on 06/03/2020 - 07:46

      Good point. Not all supplies are subject to GST. Having said that though, why would the bill summary say that it is inclusive of GST.

    • oztite on 06/03/2020 - 09:31

      That's a good point. No it's not fres veg, and also they specifically CHARGED a GST on the "bill" they provided, so they've taken the money for the GST component, but just refusing to issue a proper tax invoice

  • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 06/03/2020 - 08:17

    I'm assuming the supplier is providing goods that fall into these categories:

    https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/GST/In-detail/Your-industry/…

    Have you even checked if the supplier's ABN is registered for GST?

    • oztite on 06/03/2020 - 09:32

      Yes, falls into the category, and they have actually charged the GST on the "bill" they provided. I managed to find their ABN quite easily and I can only assume it's registered for ABN (their turnover would be at least $2 million per year)…

      • Bargain80 on 06/03/2020 - 12:56
        +2

        tell them to get their own lawyer as you're reporting it to ATO.

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