The Australian Taxation Office has won the latest round in the ongoing fight over whether retirement village developers can claim back the GST on development costs, as they do for residential housing.

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal in Brisbane decided in favour of the ATO last week, but the verdict is likely to head straight back to the Federal Court on appeal.

Not For Profits developers are generally entitled to GST credits on projects, which Matthew Cridland, the head of GST in Australia for law firm, DLA Piper (pictured), says creates an “uneven playing field”.

“For large projects, land acquisition and development costs can readily exceed $100 million, plus $10 million GST,” he said.

“For-profit operators won’t be able to recover the $10 million as a full credit, potentially making the project unviable.”