GST Issues

Following up on David Crewes' August ITA Link Editorial and not wishing in any way to start a GST debate!An extract from an article (p.5) in the ACROD Newsletter, May/June 1998. The article relates to disability-related organisations. I'm curious to know how close it will be to the situation for other associations.---------"GST" - Warwick Ryan, Ernst & Young, Canberra... If a GST is introduced, some of the implications will be:- Organisations will have to register and get a GST number.- If non-commercial organisations were zero-rated [?], they would get a credit on input tax (i.e. be able to claim a refund on all tax paid) but be taxed on output - both products and services.- An organisation would have to separate commercial activities (e.g. sale of products) which would be subject to input GST, from non-commercial activities (e.g. sale of donated goods and fundraising) which would be zero-rated on input. You then would claim the output tax paid less the input tax credited.- Some of the unknowns as far as being subject to GST are sponsorships (probably taxable), fundraising tickets, conference venues/meals, and health equipment (probably zero-rated). Funding grants are also an unknown - in NZ these were taxed. Cost of membership of a PBI organisation [?] will most likely be zero-rated, while other memberships will be taxable.- The separating of inputs and outputs will lead to a lot more administration.----------I guess we're all going to have to wait until the package is released.CheersGrant