Church and charitable hospitals share, along with other not for profit and health care organisations, the prospect of being GST free but GST paper work imprisoned. Our members as charitable health care providers could have expected something a bit more economically rational. An example from the ATO’s own website. A manufacturer of a prescribed medication collects the GST sold to a wholesaler and then forward the GST to the ATO. The wholesaler charges the pharmacist an additional GST, subtracts the GST already paid and forwards the balance to the ATO. The pharmacist supplies the medication to the patient GST free but then reclaims the GST already paid from the ATO. The result, three financial transactions and who knows how much paper work for no net tax paid. 99.9% of all hospital activities will be GST free. The exceptions will be car parking, flowers and snacks from the canteens at our members’ hospitals when relatives visit the sick. Has the Treasurer decided to punish by administrative detail those who achieved a GST free status or does he follow the principle that it is better that 99.9% of GST free activity be captured rather than 0.1% go free.

Stephen Kerr
Executive Director
Church and Charitable Private Hospitals Association