[GNC] Accounting for GST in Australia

[Michael or Penny Novack]

On 7/7/2021 7:41 AM, flywire wrote:
> GST is only really supported if it's auto-calculated otherwise a user has
> to enter twice the splits with the associated logic and keying errors. I've
> only been using the Account Register for data entry.

But GST in Australia appears to be a simple problem compared to "sales 
tax" here. Which not only varies by state (with respect to rate) but on 
what is or is not subject to the sales tax.

This may be too much to expect from an ACCOUNTING system like gnucash if 
we expect automation. Usually this sort of thing is handled by what is 
called a POS system (point of sales) which builds the invoice of sales 
receipt << it will have the total sales tax attributed to this sale 
figured by adding up the sales tax on each item since whether taxable or 
at what rate depends on the item >> Such systems also need to make 
provision of "no tax" sales where the buyer has a certificate of 
exemption on file with the vendor.

Typically a POS system is paired with an accounting system. The latter 
has only to be able to accept the transaction as created by the POS, not 
figure it out.

Michael D Novack