When Should International Businesses Register for Australian Goods and Services Tax?

When Should International Businesses Register for Australian Goods and Services Tax?

Does your business make sales in Australia? You may need to register for Australian goods and services tax.

Like many countries, Australia charges a goods and services tax (GST) on most products and services sold within Australia. Australian GST is a tax of 10% added to the price of goods and services.

Any business that makes sales within Australia needs to consider whether it should be registered for GST and include GST in its prices.

If your business does need to register for GST, it will then need to submit a business activity statement (BAS) to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and pay the GST amount.

When should an international business register for GST?

If your business makes sales of AUD $75,000 or more per year (or $150,000 if it's a non-profit organisation), you'll need to register for GST with the ATO.

There are some exemptions to registration, and you’ll also need to assess your GST turnover. Not all income is included in the GST turnover threshold.

Some examples of goods and services that can incur GST include digital products such as ebooks or training courses, professional advisory or consulting services, and personal products such as clothes or jewellery.

Overseas businesses can choose from simplified or standard GST registration, although there are criteria for simplified registration.

Australian business owners can check the ABN Lookup website to see if an overseas supplier you interact with is registered for GST. Remember, you can only claim GST on expenses if it has been correctly charged by a GST-registered business. And if you provide your ABN to a GST-registered overseas business, they do not need to charge you GST for business purchases. So check you're not claiming GST incorrectly by inspecting both the invoices provided by the supplier and the ABN Lookup.

If your business transacts in Australia, we can help work out if you should be registered for GST in Australia and let you know about the invoicing requirements and the BAS process.