Post
Topic
Board Service Announcements
Re: CoinJar - Australia's first VC-backed Bitcoin startup
by
zhoutong
on 12/07/2013, 05:03:37 UTC
Hi coinjar & Co,

Firstly, congratulations on launching a service which many in Australia will no doubt use. I do have one question though, you specify there's only 2% on the current spot price. For Australian customers does this include the GST element of 10%? If it does and given that once your revenue exceeds $75K you would be required to charge GST how is charging 2% on current spot price sustainable?

Thanks,

Stuart

Without a specific ruling from the ATO, we consider Bitcoin input-taxed supply, just like shares, bonds, derivatives, foreign currencies and precious metals. That means you have to pay GST for goods and services when you make purchases using Bitcoin.

The 2% fee itself already includes GST, because we charge 2% for the service we provide, and we will absorb it for now. (We may increase the fee to 2.2% if our profit is affected by GST, but there's no immediate plan.) Currently for CoinJar Checkout merchants, we give them access to a paper trail of GST paid, so they can easily claim GST credits if they are eligible.

(We are still in the process of GST registration, but the registration will be backdated to our incorporation date.)