What is reverse charge (RCM), and when does it touch my business?

Normally the supplier collects GST from you and deposits it. Reverse charge flips that: for certain notified categories, the recipient pays the tax directly — common examples include goods transport agencies, services from advocates, imports of services, and purchases from unregistered suppliers in specified cases.

For a registered business this is largely a discipline, not a cost: you pay the tax under RCM and, where the expense qualifies, claim it back as input credit. The catch is purely procedural — RCM liabilities have to be self-identified, paid in cash and disclosed, and they're a favourite checkpoint in departmental reviews.

The healthy habit is a short monthly checklist of your RCM-prone expenses — freight, legal, import of services, rent where applicable — so each one is captured as it happens. Set up once, it runs itself; it's part of every compliance calendar we manage.