The Repatriation Commission has the discretion to grant, by way of legislative instrument or regulation, special assistance or benefits to:
These regulations are made for the purposes of section 106 of the VEA, and provide:
The two special assistance regulations discussed in this chapter are:
Subsection 106(2) of the VEA provides two circumstances in which special assistance cannot be provided under these regulations:
Note: Subsection 106(2) highlights that special assistance under the regulations is intended to apply where other provisions of the VEA are inadequate to cover particular circumstances, or where there is no coverage at all in the circumstances.
Note: Veterans or dependants of veterans or deceased veterans with coverage under the MRCA only, may be entitled to special assistance under regulations made for the purposes of section 424 of the MRCA [4].
Eligible veterans may be entitled to claim the GST on the purchase of a motorcycle or replacement parts under the Veterans' Entitlements (Special Assistance — Motorcycle Purchase) Regulations 2001 [3].
Eligible veterans may receive a GST rebate on the purchase of a motorcycle or replacement parts, if:
See ‘Financial Assistance on the Purchase of a Motorcycle [5]’ in the Compensation and Support Reference Library for the Intent Paper.
Note: For more information about purchases of motorcycle, please see 6.11.3. For more information about the purchase of replacement parts, please see 6.11.4.
Eligible veterans must submit applications:
Note: For more information about evidentiary requirements, please see 6.11.6.
For the purposes of the regulations, the following are some key definitions:
Motorcycle: means a motor vehicle with not more than 4 wheels that is steered by means of handle bars.
Part: for a motorcycle, means a standard part, but does not include oils, greases, paints, hydraulic oils, refrigerant gases, radiator additives, petrol additives, brake fluids or petrol.
GST inclusive market value: in relation to a motorcycle or part, means the market value of the motorcycle or part without any discount for an amount of GST (excluding the value of any modifications made solely for the purpose of adapting the motorcycle or part for driving or for transporting a person).
Car limit: has the meaning given by subsection 40‑230(3) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997. [7]
Car: has the meaning given by section 995‑1 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 [7].
Note: For a complete list of definitions, please see Part 1.3 [3] of the regulations.
The GST rebate is available to veterans (including members of the Forces or members of a Peacekeeping Force) who:
Eligible veterans may receive the GST rebate on the purchase of a motorcycle if:
Note: the GST rebate may be paid to eligible veterans whether or not they are the driver of the motorcycle, as long as the other criteria are met.
Eligible veterans may receive the GST rebate on the purchase of replacement motorcycle parts if:
Eligible veterans may not receive the GST rebate on the purchase of a subsequent motorcycle if in the previous two years they received a GST rebate on the purchase of a motorcycle under the regulations or on the purchase of a car through the Australian Taxation Office, [8] unless:
Note: A special circumstance might include the theft and non-recovery of the veteran’s car if it was not insured for its replacement value.
Eligible veterans must submit applications to DVA for the GST rebate:
From 1 July 2017, the ANTS GST Act was amended such that an overseas supplier of a low value good (less than $1000) is not required to provide a tax invoice for a supply, but GST is required to be included at ‘checkout’.
Practically speaking this means delegates may presume GST was paid on an online purchase, where:
This same approach may apply in cases where an invoice is available but it does not itemise or specify GST.
Note: an application may be made on behalf of another person as long as that person is in Australia on the day the application is made.
If the GST inclusive market value of the motorcycle or replacement part does not exceed the ‘car limit’, then:
If the GST inclusive market value of the motorcycle or replacement part does exceed the ‘car limit’, then
Note: the 'car limit' (also referred to as the car depreciation limit), is specified in subsection 40-230(3) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 [7] (as a guide, the 2022-23 financial year was $64,741). The car limit [9] is reviewed each financial year and may change.
The GST inclusive market value of the car should disregard any value that is attributed to modifications that are made to the car solely for the purpose of adapting the car for driving by the person or transporting the person. The link at the end of this text takes you to the declaration form required for GST exemption. The definition of a 'motorcycle' includes vehicles with no more than four wheels that are steered by handle bars.
For the purposes of this regulation, the value of the purchased motorcycle can include optional extras and accessories where those extras and accessories are purchased as part of the same transaction as the bike itself. Where extras and accessories are bought at a separate time as part of a separate transaction, they would not be eligible for the GST exemption unless they are replacement parts.
The rebate value should be calculated based on the GST-inclusive market value of the motorcycle. Where a trade-in forms part of the consideration for the motorcycle, the GST-inclusive market value is not reduced by the value of the trade-in for the purposes of working out the rebate amount. A person who is currently eligible for the rebate is able to claim for the rebate on a motorcycle purchased before they became eligible for the payment, but only where the motorcycle on which the rebate is claimed is the veterans’ current personal transportation at the time of the rebate claim and all other criteria are met.
To make an application for the GST rebate on motorcycles or replacement parts, veterans should complete the form located at this link: Application for Motorcycle GST Rebate. [10]
A crisis payment may be granted in circumstances defined by the following regulations:
For more information on the eligibility criteria for providing the crisis payment under these regulations please see Chapter 3.12 of the Compensation and Support Policy Library [11].
Links
[1] https://clik.dva.gov.au/user/login?destination=node/16581%23comment-form
[2] https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/F1999B00326
[3] https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/F2001B00290
[4] https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2022C00311
[5] http://auth-clik.dvastaff.dva.gov.au/compensation-and-support-reference-library/intent-paper-2013/rehabilitation-and-compensation-veterans-entitlements-act-1986-vea/financial-assistance-purchase-motorcycle
[6] https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2004A00446
[7] https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2004A05138
[8] https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Small-business-newsroom/Lodging-and-paying/Cars-and-tax/?=Redirected_URL#:~:text=Goods%20and%20services%20tax%20%28GST%29%3A%20If%20you%20purchase,the%20car%20limit%2C%20which%20is%20%245%2C885%20in%202022%E2%80%9323.
[9] https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Depreciation-and-capital-expenses-and-allowances/Simpler-depreciation-for-small-business/Assets-and-exclusions/?anchor=Carcostlimit&anchor=Carcostlimit#Carcostlimit
[10] https://www.dva.gov.au/about-us/dva-forms/application-motorcycle-gst-rebate
[11] http://auth-clik.dvastaff.dva.gov.au/compensation-and-support-policy-library/part-3-income-support-eligibility/312-crisis-payment