A group is formed when 2 or more entities, which carry out taxable activities, register for GST as a group.
An entity can be any of these:
- a person
- a company
- an incorporated or unincorporated society or club
- a joint venture or partnership
- a trustee or a trust or estate
- a public or local authority.
A company can be either of these:
- a body corporate incorporated in New Zealand or elsewhere
- a limited partnership registered under the Limited Partnerships Act 2008.
Who can be in a group
There are different criteria depending on the types of entities.
Company-only groups
If every member in the group is a company, the companies must be at least 66% commonly owned in terms of voting interests or market value interests.
The group must also meet 1 of these criteria:
- each company is GST-registered
- the total value of taxable supplies made by the group to outside entities is at least 75% of the total supplies made by the group .
Mixed groups
Entities which are not all companies can form a group if they are GST-registered and meet 1 of these criteria:
- 1 member of the group controls all other members of the group
- 1 person outside of the group controls all members of the group
- 2 or more people carrying on a taxable activity in partnership, control the members of the group.
Non-resident entities registered under section 54B of the GST Act 1985 can only be grouped with other non-resident entities registered under the same section.
How a group works
We treat a group as a single entity and use its combined turnover for GST purposes.
The group chooses 1 GST-registered member to be its representative. The representative files 1 GST return on behalf of the group at the end of each taxable period.
Taxable supply information is provided using the representative's GST number or a member can provide it under their own GST number.
Responsibilities of the group representative
The group representative:
- must be registered for GST before joining the group
- is treated as carrying out the taxable activities of the group
- is responsible for filing the group's GST returns and paying any GST due to us
- can ask us to add or remove group members, change the representative or cancel the group registration
- is our contact for all matters relating to the group's GST activity.
Responsibilities of each member
Each member:
- must keep its own GST records
- is liable, both as a group and as an individual member, for any GST due to us
- must use the same filing frequency and accounting basis as the group
- does not file its own GST returns while a member of the group
- must give the representative details of its income and expenses so the representative can include these in the group's GST return.
A member can provide taxable supply information under its own GST number or the GST number of the representative member.
Members do not need to charge GST on sales to other members or claim GST from each other for transactions within the group.