This week we examine the legal character of foreign currency and what it means to treat something as “money” under the GST regime, through the High Court decision in Travelex Ltd v Commissioner of Taxation [2010] HCA 33. The case explores the tension between the statutory structure of GST and the fundamental attributes of currency: whether currency is merely money, a financial supply, or a bundle of rights intended for use overseas.
At issue was whether the sale of $400 Fijian dollars to a traveller in the Sydney Airport departures lounge constituted a GST-free supply “in relation to rights” under s 38-190(1) of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (Cth). While lower courts held the transaction was an input-taxed financial supply (of money), the High Court majority held that currency confers legal rights for use overseas—rights that make the supply GST-free.
We will explore how Travelex clarifies:
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When a supply of foreign currency is treated as “in relation to rights” under the GST Act;
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Whether the legal tender status of currency gives rise to rights independent of the banknotes themselves;
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How the Act treats overlapping classifications (financial supply vs GST-free export);
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The difference between supplying physical items and supplying legal entitlements attached to them;
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What this case reveals about the legal definition and treatment of “money” for tax purposes.
Travelex highlights the fluid boundary between money as a medium of exchange and money as a legal artefact—reminding us that the tax system recognises not just what something is, but how and where it is intended to function.
Please see below link to case materials which is assumed reading in order to participate in the discussion:
Travelex Ltd v Commissioner or Taxation [2010] HCA33
Discussion led by Adrian Cartland.