The Law, Expiry Dates and Considerations
During the Christmas season many people give gift vouchers. Have you considered offering gift vouchers? There are business and legal issues which you need to consider. I am not a lawyer or accountant, so please check with them if required.
NSW Fair Trading and ACCC under Australian Consumer Law (ACL) require gift voucher to have clearly disclosed 3 year expiry date validity on all fully priced gift voucher.
Where could your business be in 3 years? It may be better to offer a dollar value gift voucher, rather than a voucher for a service or product. Gift vouchers terms and conditions can be restricted by law, and where imposed clearly advised.
Donating, giving away and heavily discounted gift voucher? The 3 year validity doesn’t apply. However terms still must be disclosed.
Recommend setting up a holding account for the gift voucher money. On redemption, transfer the GST (if you’re GST registered) to the GST account as it will then be payable with the next BAS. As the gift vouchers are redeemed, take the net of GST money from that account back to your main account to cover your expenses.
Gift vouchers are like cash, so I recommend implementing security measures over their use.
Gift vouchers can be a great way to attract new clients. However, with compulsory 3 year gift voucher expiry for full price vouchers, it does create some issues for small businesses. Please make sure you address these issues before offering gift voucher.
For more on this topic refer my full blog here: https://faqbusinesstraining.com.au/gift-voucher-expiry-dates/ including links to NSW Fair Trading and ACCC.
Jane Tweedy | Western Sydney Business Centre 0490 102194 | [email protected]
