What must be on a tax invoice in Australia

First: are you registered for GST?

Only a business registered for GST issues tax invoices and charges GST. The ATO says you must register when your GST turnover (your gross income from the business, less GST) reaches $75,000 or more, and you can register voluntarily below that.

If you are not registered, you do not charge GST and you do not issue a tax invoice. Send an invoice instead, without GST, and do not call it a tax invoice.

What a tax invoice must show

The ATO says a tax invoice for a taxable sale of less than $1,000 must include enough information to clearly work out these things:

1. That the document is intended to be a tax invoice. Heading it "Tax Invoice" is the simple way.
2. The seller's identity: your business or trading name.
3. The seller's ABN.
4. The date it was issued.
5. A brief description of what was sold, including the quantity (if applicable) and the price.
6. The GST amount (if any) payable. Show it separately, or, if the GST is exactly one eleventh of the total, a statement such as "Total price includes GST".
7. The extent to which each sale on the invoice is taxable, which matters when an invoice mixes taxable and GST-free items.

For a sale of $1,000 or more, the invoice must also show the buyer's identity or ABN.

When you have to give one

If a customer asks for a tax invoice, the ATO says you must give one within 28 days of the request. The exception is a sale of $82.50 or less, including GST.

In practice, send a tax invoice with every job to a GST-registered business, and with every job to a homeowner too. It costs nothing and answers the question before it is asked.

A tax invoice checklist

Invoices that are not your tax invoice

Some builders raise a recipient-created tax invoice (RCTI) for their subcontractors instead of waiting for the subbie to invoice. That only works under a written agreement, and when it applies you must not issue your own tax invoice for the same work. If your builder issues RCTIs, check the agreement and the ATO guidance on RCTIs before you send anything.

Progress claims on building work are often your tax invoice for the amount claimed. Retention held back is usually invoiced when it is released. See progress claims and retention.

New Zealand is different

This guide covers Australian GST only. New Zealand GST works differently, at a different rate and with its own rules for what goes on an invoice; check Inland Revenue for NZ invoices.

How the app handles it

In Crewzy you set your ABN and whether you are registered for GST once, under Settings, Business details, and the ABN is checked against the Australian Business Register. When you are registered and the invoice charges GST, it is headed Tax Invoice, with your ABN, the date, the number, each line and the GST. If you are not registered it is headed Invoice and charges no GST. Sent invoices keep the tax they were sent with, so a later change never rewrites an old one. It all goes to Xero with the same number. See Are my invoices tax invoices?

Common questions

Sources

Official pages this guide relies on, read on 23 October 2026. Rules change; check them before you rely on anything here.

• ATO: Tax invoices
• ATO: Registering for GST

Related

• How to get paid faster
• How to chase unpaid invoices
• Invoices in the app
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