GST and Australian tax invoices

Do you charge GST?

You must register for GST once your business turns over $75,000 or more in a 12-month period, and you can register voluntarily below that. Once registered, you generally add 10% to Australian sales and issue tax invoices rather than plain invoices. If you're not registered, you don't charge GST and the document is an “invoice”, not a “tax invoice” — the wording matters.

What a valid tax invoice needs

For sales of $82.50 including GST or more, the ATO requires the words “Tax invoice”, your business name, your ABN, the issue date, a description of what you sold, the GST amount (or a statement that the total includes GST), and the total price.

Where to set this up

Your business name, ABN and the name on your invoices live here, and flow onto every invoice you issue — set them once. So does Registered for GST, the rate, and whether your prices already include GST.

If you're not registered for GST

Switch Registered for GST off. New invoices and quotes then carry no GST and no GST controls, invoices are titled “Invoice” rather than “Tax invoice”, packages stop adding GST, and print store receipts stop showing it. Anything you've already sent keeps the GST it went out with. If you register later, switch it back on.

Inclusive or exclusive prices

Most photographers quote consumer clients a single, all-in price, which is GST-inclusive: type $4,400 and the client pays $4,400, shown as “Includes GST (10%) $400”. Commercial clients often expect prices before GST: type $4,000 and the invoice adds $400 on top. Pick your usual one in settings, and change it on any single invoice or quote when a client needs the other. Each invoice remembers its own choice, so changing the setting later never restates an invoice you've sent.

At BAS time

The bookkeeping export gives your accountant the transaction list in a format they can work from, rather than a folder of PDFs.