Logbook for GST apportionment

Section 21(5) of the Goods and Services Tax Act 1985

A motor vehicle is an asset that, if it is used for private and business purposes, is subject to the GST apportionment rules. However, deductions for dual-use motor vehicles are also subject to special rules for income tax purposes. For income tax purposes, a person may keep a logbook as a method for establishing the proportion of business use. To ease compliance costs, this amendment sets out that such a logbook may also be used to determine the taxable use of the vehicle for the purposes of the GST apportionment rules. This means that the registered person will be able to use the same records to help determine their deductions for both tax types.

Application date

As this change confirms what is understood to be standard practice, it applies from 1 April 2011.