Did you know that some fresh foods – such as salads, sushi and cooked pasta with sauce – may be subject to GST?
If you operate a GST-registered food business, you’ll need to include GST where your food is:
- for consumption on the premises where it is sold (for example, sold at a restaurant or cafe)
- hot food for consumption away from the premises where it is sold (for example, a takeaway meal with a hot component)
- ‘food marketed as a prepared meal’ (which can include some salads).
You need to weigh up a number of factors to work out if your food is ‘food marketed as a prepared meal’, including the following:
- Does the packaging and labelling indicate it is a prepared meal (for example, referred to as lunch)?
- Does the menu or signage at the point of sale indicate the food is marketed as a prepared meal (for example, ‘lunch to go’)?
- Does it include all of the necessary ingredients for a complete meal?
- Is it packaged for immediate consumption and cannot be resealed?
- Is it supplied with cutlery and a napkin?
- Is it priced similar to other comparable prepared meals?
- Is it competing with other takeaway meals?
Courtesy: ATO Small business newsroom
