Key points
- A tax invoice for a sale under A$1,000 must let the buyer clearly work out 7 details, including your ABN and the GST.
- For sales of A$1,000 or more, it must also show the buyer’s identity or ABN.
- If a customer asks for a tax invoice, you must provide one within 28 days, unless the sale is A$82.50 or less (including GST).
- A PDF sent by email is fine, as long as it holds all the required information.
- If you are not registered for GST, do not call your invoice a tax invoice and do not add GST.
Who issues tax invoices
GST is a tax of 10% on most goods, services and other items sold or consumed in Australia. Businesses registered for GST generally include it in their prices, issue tax invoices for their taxable sales and claim credits for the GST in their own business purchases (ATO: How GST works).
You must register for GST when your GST turnover reaches A$75,000 a year (A$150,000 for non-profit organisations), and you have 21 days to register once you reach it. Below that, registering is optional (ATO: Registering for GST).
The 7 details on every tax invoice
For taxable sales of less than A$1,000, the ATO says a tax invoice must include enough information to clearly determine these 7 details (ATO: Tax invoices):
- That the document is intended to be a tax invoice. “Tax invoice” at the top is the simplest way to show it.
- The seller’s identity: your business name.
- The seller’s Australian business number (ABN).
- The date the invoice was issued.
- A brief description of the items sold, including the quantity (if applicable) and the price.
- The GST amount (if any) payable. It can be shown separately or, if the GST is exactly one-eleventh of the total price, as a statement such as “Total price includes GST”.
- The extent to which each sale on the invoice is a taxable sale.
Sales of A$1,000 or more
Tax invoices for sales of A$1,000 or more must also show the buyer’s identity or ABN. The ATO adds that if your tax invoices meet the requirements for sales of A$1,000 or more, you can use them for smaller sales too. For a tradie, the simple habit is to put the client’s name, and a business client’s ABN, on every invoice.
When you must provide one
If a customer asks for a tax invoice, you must provide one within 28 days, unless it is for a sale of A$82.50 (including GST) or less. Most trades send an invoice for every job anyway, so the easier rule is to make every invoice a valid tax invoice.
Showing the GST
Show the GST as a separate amount or, when the GST is exactly one-eleventh of the total, with the words “Total price includes GST”. To find the GST inside a GST-inclusive price, divide the total by 11:
| Total including GST | A$525.80 |
|---|---|
| GST (A$525.80 divided by 11) | A$47.80 |
| Price before GST | A$478.00 |
Mixed taxable and GST-free items
If an invoice includes taxable and non-taxable items (GST-free or input-taxed), it must clearly show which items are taxable, as well as the amount of GST to be paid and the total amount to be paid. Most trade work is taxable, so this mainly matters when an invoice includes something that is not.
Digital invoices and rounding
A tax invoice does not need to be on paper. Emailing a PDF is fine, as long as the document contains all the required information.
Where the GST includes a fraction of a cent and there is one taxable sale on the invoice, round it to the nearest cent, with half a cent rounding up. With several taxable sales on one invoice, the ATO describes two methods, the total invoice rule and the taxable supply rule. Pick one and use it consistently.
If you are not registered for GST
The ATO says that if you are not registered for GST, your invoices should not include the words “tax invoice”: you issue standard invoices instead (ATO: Setting up your business invoices). Do not add GST to your prices either; taxable sales are made by businesses that are registered for GST, or required to be (ATO: Taxable sales).
Keep your ABN on every invoice. If a supplier does not provide an ABN, the business paying it generally has to withhold tax at the top rate from the payment (ATO: Withholding from suppliers).
Checklist before you send
- “Tax invoice” at the top (only if you are registered for GST)
- Your business name and ABN
- The date issued, and an invoice number so it is easy to find
- What you did or supplied, with quantities and prices
- The GST amount, or “Total price includes GST”
- Which items are taxable, if any are not
- The client’s name or ABN, which is required for sales of A$1,000 or more
- The total and the date it is due
Sources
Checked against the ATO website on 10 November 2026.
- Tax invoices, Australian Taxation Office, QC 22438, last updated 18 September 2026
- Registering for GST, Australian Taxation Office, QC 22412, last updated 14 September 2026
- How GST works, Australian Taxation Office, QC 22411, last updated 14 September 2026
- Taxable sales, Australian Taxation Office, QC 22418, last updated 14 September 2026
- Setting up your business invoices, Australian Taxation Office, QC 60725, last updated 20 March 2025
- Withholding from suppliers, Australian Taxation Office, QC 27075, last updated 11 June 2025
General information only, checked against the ATO website on 10 November 2026. It is not tax advice. For your situation, check ato.gov.au or ask a registered tax agent or BAS agent. See our disclaimer.