Thread: ABN's????

Haven't read all of this but I have had an ABN for years and even forgot at one stage and it wasn't untill I applied for one that the ATO said you can't have one because you already have one. You don't have to do gst until you turnover (I think) 75k so I have managed to avoid that so far. My ABN gets me a lot of trade discounts, keeps the tax man happy, company and corporate people happy so its all good and as someone said until youmake more than 20k (I think) you claim it as a hobby.
Just check the 20k out but other than that its how I operate and my accountant and the tax man have been happy for the last 4 years or so.

PS meant to say you should be able to take out your ABN quickly on line I think.

I was under the impression if it is a hobby and you are not running it as a business, you don't need an ABN
Of course if it is a hobby, you cannot claim any tax deductions or expenses from the ATO
If you have an ABN you have to declare any income to the ATO no matter how you earn it.

Originally Posted by corbs

Kev, thanks for that form. Looks like it's exactly what I need at this stage and I will make some enquiries about an ABN down the track.

Corbs
I strongly suggest you get yourself an ABN for this transaction.
It's quite likely that your customer doesn't often deal with hobbiests, if at all, and as a consequence they probably do not have a payment procedure that will recognise the form stating that you are ABN exempt. In my organisation -- which makes payments of about $600 million each month -- all suppliers are assumed to have an ABN. If no ABN is quoted on an invoice then 46.5% is deducted from the payment and it is up to the supplier -- in your case you -- to sort it out with the ATO.

in the payment procedures the steps are:
ABN quoted -- pay as normal
No ABN quoted -- pay with deduction

there is no 3rd step for your situation -- no ABN and a statement saying you don't need to have one