In a recent decision, the Administrative Review Tribunal ('ART') rejected a taxpayer's claim for input tax credits on the basis that all the relevant GST returns (i.e., BASs) were lodged out of time.

For the GST periods from 1 October 2015 to 31 March 2017, the taxpayer filed each of her GST returns more than four years after they were due.  The taxpayer still claimed input tax credits totalling over $10,000 for this period.

The ATO disallowed this claim, on the basis that none of the input tax credits were claimed within the four year period, as required by the GST Act.

The ART upheld the ATO's decision, noting that, as the taxpayer did not file the GST returns within the four year period "she did not have input tax credits taken into account . . . As a consequence, . . . (she) simply ceased to be entitled to those input tax credits."