A free drug guide has attracted a 22 per cent sales tax because it was
printed as a card rather than as a leaflet. The ATO said that if the guide
had been a pamphlet or a leaflet it would have been exempt from the sales
tax. Produced by the Freemasons Grand Lodge of WA, the card was developed
to give parents and youth carers easy access to information about drugs,
symptoms of drug abuse and advice on what to do in an emergency. The sales
tax added $1,000 to the printing costs of the first 20,000 cards which were
snapped up within a day of their release. Another 40,000 cards are being
printed to cater for the demand, costing the Freemasons $2,000 more in
sales tax. Yet another tax area ripe for reform?