Australian tax invoice requirements

In Australia, a tax invoice is the document your GST-registered customers need to claim GST credits for what they buy from you. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) sets out what it must contain, and the requirements change at two amounts: $82.50 and $1,000. This guide follows the ATO's tax invoice guidance; GSTR 2013/1 is the ATO's full ruling on tax invoices if you need more detail.

When you must provide a tax invoice

Only businesses registered for GST can issue tax invoices. Once you're registered:

• If a customer asks for a tax invoice, you must provide one within 28 days, unless the sale is $82.50 or less including GST.
• Your GST-registered customers need a tax invoice to claim a GST credit for any purchase over $82.50 including GST. For smaller purchases a receipt, docket or ordinary invoice is enough.

GST registration is compulsory once your GST turnover reaches $75,000 ($150,000 for non-profit organisations), and for taxi and ride-sourcing drivers whatever their turnover. You have 21 days to register once you're required to.

The 7 requirements for a tax invoice

For taxable sales of less than $1,000, the ATO requires a tax invoice to include enough information to clearly determine:

1. that the document is intended to be a tax invoice (a "Tax invoice" heading is the simplest way to show this)
2. the seller's identity
3. the seller's Australian business number (ABN)
4. the date it was issued
5. a brief description of the items sold, including the quantity (if applicable) and the price
6. the GST amount (if any), shown separately or, where GST is exactly one-eleventh of the total price, as a statement such as "Total price includes GST"
7. the extent to which each sale on the invoice is a taxable sale

For sales of $1,000 or more, the tax invoice must also show the buyer's identity or ABN. An invoice that meets the $1,000 standard works for smaller sales too, so one template can cover every sale.

The ATO doesn't require them, but an invoice number, your contact details, the due date and how to pay make invoices easier to track and quicker to pay. The Australian tax invoice generator is set up for GST.

Worked example: GST-inclusive and GST-exclusive prices

GST is 10% of the GST-exclusive price, which makes it one-eleventh of the GST-inclusive price:

• Adding GST: $1,000.00 × 10% = $100.00, so the price is $1,100.00 including GST.
• Finding the GST in an inclusive price: $1,100.00 ÷ 11 = $100.00.

Here's a tax invoice from a wholesaler to a café that mixes taxable and GST-free items:

Two rules show up here. The sale is well over $1,000, so the invoice must show the café's name or ABN. And because the vegetables are GST-free, the GST of $115.00 isn't one-eleventh of the $1,865.00 total (that would be $169.55), so a "Total price includes GST" statement would be wrong. Show the GST amount and mark which items are taxable. The GST calculator does the arithmetic for any amount.

If an invoice has one taxable sale, round the GST to the nearest cent, rounding half a cent up. With several taxable sales, the ATO lets you use either the total invoice rule or the taxable sale rule.

Mixed sales: taxable, GST-free and input-taxed

When a tax invoice covers both taxable and non-taxable items, it must clearly show which items are taxable, as well as each taxable sale, the amount of GST payable and the total amount payable. Non-taxable items are either:

• GST-free, such as most basic food, some education courses, some medical and health services, and exports
• input-taxed, such as financial supplies and selling or renting out residential premises

If you're not registered for GST

A business that isn't registered, or required to be registered, for GST can't charge GST, and its customers can't claim GST credits for what they buy from it. The ATO says your invoices should not include the words "tax invoice": issue a standard invoice with no GST, such as one from the Australian invoice generator, and include your ABN.

The ABN matters. If a business pays you more than $75, excluding GST, and you haven't quoted an ABN, it generally has to withhold 47% of the payment and send it to the ATO, unless an exception applies.

Watch your turnover each month. If you should have registered and didn't, you may have to pay GST on sales made since the date you were required to register, even if you didn't include GST in your prices.

Adjustment notes

If the price changes after a sale, for example because of a discount, refund or cancellation, the GST changes too, and your customer may need an adjustment note. You must issue one within 28 days of the earlier of your customer asking for one or you becoming aware of the adjustment, where you issued, or were asked for, a tax invoice.

An adjustment note needs enough information to clearly determine:

• that it's intended to be an adjustment note, and its effect (a heading such as "Adjustment note" or "Amended tax invoice" works)
• your identity and ABN
• the buyer's identity or ABN, if the original tax invoice was for $1,000 or more
• the date it was issued
• a brief explanation of the reason for the adjustment
• the amount of the adjustment to GST
• the difference between the price before and after the adjustment

Your customer generally needs a valid adjustment note before claiming a decreasing adjustment, unless the GST adjustment is $75 or less. A $660 discount, for example, reduces GST by $60, so no adjustment note is needed.

Recipient-created tax invoices (RCTIs)

In some industries and business arrangements, the buyer issues the tax invoice instead of the seller. As the buyer, you can issue an RCTI only if:

• you and the supplier are both registered for GST when you issue it
• you've agreed in writing that you'll issue RCTIs and the supplier won't issue tax invoices, and the agreement is current
• the goods or services are covered by the ATO's Recipient Created Tax Invoice Determination 2023

The RCTI must make clear it's a recipient-created tax invoice, show both parties' ABNs and, if GST is payable, show that it's payable by the supplier. Give the supplier the original or a copy within 28 days of the sale, or of the date you work out the value of the sale.

Digital invoices and eInvoicing

A tax invoice doesn't need to be on paper. A PDF sent by email is fine as long as it contains all the required information. Australia uses the Peppol framework for eInvoicing, and the ATO treats a Peppol eInvoice issued under the A-NZ specification with all mandatory data as intended to be a tax invoice, even without the words "Tax invoice".

Record keeping

Keep most business records, including the tax invoices you issue and receive, for 5 years. The period generally starts from when you prepared or obtained the record, or completed the transaction, whichever is later. Records can be paper or digital, but they must be stored in a way that protects them from being changed or damaged.

For complex cases, such as agency arrangements, GST groups or sales by co-owners, check the ATO's guidance or speak to a registered tax or BAS agent.