Account for GST on goods imported to Australia

1

Hi,
I am very new to all of this so please forgive me if my questions seem dumb.
I am reading the guides and forum topics but have been unable to find the specific answer I need.

I am importing goods (inventory items) from an overseas supplier. These show in the inventory on hand account under assets. When I now come to record the payment for the GST on the imported goods, which account do I allocate this against ? I have created the Australia - GST on Imports tax code. Do I need to create a new account for this ? What should it come under ?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thx

Alan

2

I found it helpful to also create an expense account named GST on imports. Payment of the GST is then allocated to an account and tax code with the same name. The Tax Audit report for the BAS period can then be crossed checked to the total GST paid on the import declarations.

3

Tony,

That sounds very logical. Thank you very much for you advice.

Alan

4

A separate expense account for the GST exclusive import payments may also be helpful.

5

Tony,

Are you talking about things like;

AQIS

Customs Disbursment Charges

These were zero rated or exempt.

Or the actual purchase of the goods from the overseas supplier ?

  Also would I need to create a separate COGS category for my import  costs or are they OK just under the regular operating expenses ?

Thx

Alan

6

It is a good idea to create COGS accounts for all the imported goods and related costs. The COGS expense accounts can include:

  • Purchases imported. (Actual purchase of goods from overseas supplier)
  • Customs entry fees.
  • Customs AQIS fees.
  • Freight.
    If you prepare a spreadsheet summarizing the import declarations they will match the amounts allocated to these accounts except for freight.