Festival of Popular Delusions Day – I don’t need a tax invoice

The most popular or common delusion we hear from small business owners is: ‘I paid by Amex, so I don’t need a Tax Invoice, I can just use the statement.’
Wrong!
You need a valid tax invoice for everything above $75 (+GST if applicable) if you are planning to claim for the GST paid on your next BAS.
The ATO website says “Registering for GST means you can claim back the GST you pay on goods and services you buy for your business – as long as you have a tax invoice from your supplier.”
What does a valid tax invoice look like?
The Australian Tax Office says you need at least 7 features on the invoice
https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/GST/Issuing-tax-invoices/

Requirements of tax invoices
Tax invoices for taxable sales of less than $1,000 must include enough information to clearly determine the following seven details:
1. that the document is intended to be a tax invoice
2. the seller’s identity
3. the seller’s Australian business number (ABN)
4. the date the invoice was issued
5. a brief description of the items sold, including the quantity (if applicable) and the price
6. the GST amount (if any) payable – this can be shown separately or, if the GST amount is exactly one-eleventh of the total price, as a statement such as ‘Total price includes GST’
7. the extent to which each sale on the invoice is a taxable sale (that is, the extent to which each sale includes GST)

Example 1 meets this requirement because the sale is clearly identified as being fully taxable by the words ‘total price including GST’
Example 2 meets this requirement in two ways: it shows the GST included in each line item (see column with the GST amount), and the sale is clearly identified as being fully taxable by the words ‘the total price includes GST’.

In addition, tax invoices for sales of $1,000 or more need to show:
8. the buyer’s identity or ABN
If your tax invoices meet the requirements for sales of $1,000 or more, you can also use them for sales of lesser amounts.

What other delusions are you suffering from? And how will your business suffer?

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