GST - Purchase of Property to Renovate and On-sell

Question

We have a client who has just purchased a property to renovate and on-sell. The activity is a one- off transaction and not seen as continuous for GST purposes. They prefer not to register for GST. They are asking us if they should actually register for GST. What is the best way to advise our client please? (My client understands that the transaction is subject to Income Tax).

Answer

Your client should have registered for GST on the purchase of the property as the business activity will, we assume, breach the registration threshold of $60,000. All costs of the renovation as well as the purchase of the property would have been claimed in the GST return.