I am pleased to announce that the Government has adopted new criteria for the Simplified Tax System (STS) that allows most fuel retailers to enter from 1 July 2001.
Certain criteria must be met for a business to be eligible to enter the STS. One criterion is that the value of STS group turnover for the year must be less than $1 million. As a result, this test excluded fuel retailers, who generally have high turnovers but low profits. The Government has now prescribed an alternative way for fuel retailers to calculate their STS group turnover, by subtracting the value of business supplies of retail fuel.
Entry to the STS will assist eligible fuel retailers. The system was designed to help small business in several ways, such as by reducing the tax they are liable to pay, by reducing their compliance costs, or both.
Regulations giving effect to this measure were notified in Special Government Gazette No S 96 of 27 March 2003.