GST Claimable on Import Duty Invoices

Savanna

We are importing goods from overseas. When the freight processing companies send through their bills there is Import GST claimable on the invoice as a separate line item which does not show up on the usual GST line at the bottom of the invoice.

How do you enter this type of transaction to be able to claim that GST? Our accountant has advised that we enter a GST inclusive amount which would then put the correct amount of GST in the Tax column and then just add a negative line to reduce the amount to balance the invoice.

See attached invoice, there is $6,062.18 Import GST which is claimable but tax amount down the bottom is only showing $306.72.

I have entered the invoice in Reckon:

Import tax declarations Tax Code NCG = $66,683.98 - tax portion showing as $6,6062.18

Import duties/fees Tax Code NCF = $8,042.28 - tax portion showing as $0.00

Import duties/fees Tax Code NCG= $3,373.92 - tax portion showing as $306.72

Import tax declaration Tax Code NCF = -$60,621.80 - tax portion showing as $0.00

Total GST on Invoice = $6,368.90

Total Invoice = $17,478.38

This invoice was dated 31/03/21. Invoice was paid in full on 01/04/21. We are on a Cash Basis for GST so the full amount of $6,368.90 GST should appear on the April-June QTR for BAS but for some reason Reckon has split an odd amount between the Jan-Mar Qtr and the Apr-Jun Qtr.

When I called reckon they seemed to think it was because I had a negative amount in the bill. But even if I took the negative line out and had a larger bill amount showing and then put a credit note through to get it back to the actual amount of the bill it still split the GST amount over the two quarters.

Has this happened to anyone else?

Kris_Williams

That is exactly how I’ve been doing it for years, can’t help with your issue though

Savanna

Reckon has since advised me that in my settings I need to tick the preference to be able to amend tax amounts and then enter the invoice as:

Import Duties/Fees Tax Code NCG = $11,109.47 Tax Amount $306.72

Import Declaration GST Tax Code NCG = $0.01 Tax Amount $6,062.18

Total GST Showing on invoice = $6368.90

Total Invoice = $17,478.38

Apparently by entering negative amounts in a bill it creates a mess in Reckon. I was able to pick up this issue easily as we only do 1 transaction a month, but for those who possible do a lot of transactions you may not pick up the issue in your Tax Liability Reports....

Kris_Williams

I never amend the tax payable figure I always enter as you did so it is automatic, comes from early days of bas where 1B was exactly 10% of NCG

Acctd4

@Savanna Whilst editing the tax amount is fine for minimal adjustments (eg for rounding), editing considerably as per the above can cause more problems.

Instead - in my experience - I have found the following works best:

• Enter all the line amounts as net figures (eg excl GST on NCG lines - untick the "Amounts include tax" checkbox at the bottom of your bill/cheque window)  This makes it a lot easier to identify/match up your amounts against the import document lines

• Your negative lines should have NO tax code (not NCF)!  This is because you (should) have already recorded your cost of the stock value by entry of the Supplier bill (or Cheque) with NCF.  Entering a 2nd NCF value again from the import doc means you are doubling up on this expense.  NOTE: Having no tax code also eliminates the "negative amounts in a bill" issue that Reckon mentioned as this problem tends to be tax-code generated 😊   

Savanna

Hi Shaz

The duties and fees is from the freight company. Stock is billed to us by a separate company.

The reason why the negative amount is there is because there is no actual stock value on the importers cost bill.

Not sure if that makes sense at all?

I am very confused now about how to do this transaction...

JudyA

Hi Savanna,

We have the same issue as you with having GST on the freight invoice and the stock on the suppliers invoice. There is a knowledge base article that explains how to get around this and I've attached a summary here. I've been using this method for at least 6 months now and the GST payable on the BAS has always been spot on. We are on accruals though, so hopefully it will also work for cash accounting. Let me know if it makes sense, or if I can help any further.

Processing GST charges on Imported Goods.pdf

Judy