The two year dispute with the ATO has come to a sad end.
The Gosford Classic Car museum has officially closed its doors after losing a two-year battle with the Australian Taxation Office.
The museum, which opened three years ago in 2016, was closed due to a technicality in a business model which left them unable to claim tax exemptions.
Gosford Classic Cars was established as a showroom for interested buyers to view luxury cars with the museum element of the business being used as a way to generate interest and promote the sale of luxury vehicles.
When the business registered with the ATO in February of 2016, two months before they opened, they registered as luxury car seller and documented the purpose of the museum as being for promotion only.
However, when the ATO audited the business in December of 2016, they decided that the business should be classified as both a luxury car seller and a museum, making it a “dual-purpose venture”.
This change in classification meant that Gosford Classic Cars would be unable to claim luxury car tax exemptions and GST exemptions.
Jason Fischer, the workshop manager, told the Central Coast Express Advocate that the company fought the ATO for two years over the issue, arguing that the museum concept was purely used as a way to promote the sale of the cars.
The ATO ordered that the Gosford Classic Car Museum stop using the word museum in their name, stop charging admission, and stop all advertising containing the word ‘museum’.
According to Mr. Fischer, the ATO failed to explain why the museum concept is unable to be used as a promotional tool, and how it differs from other similar promotional tactics used by luxury car brands.
“The ATO also declined to explain why they consider promotion of trading stock using the museum concept is a secondary purpose, and therefore unacceptable, while other dealerships buying vehicles as a means of promoting their stock is acceptable,” Mr Fischer told the Central Coast Express Advocate.
“We still have no answer from the ATO on why, as a matter of principle, promoting new vehicles by purchasing cars for test driving and inspection only is acceptable, while promoting the sale of cars using the museum concept is not.”
The closure of the Gosford Car Museum results in the loss of over 40 jobs.
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Written by Kate Stevens
Images: Unsplash
