Free Australian invoice generator

Invoice or tax invoice? What has to be on an Australian invoice

The editor above builds the document. This bit explains what actually has to be in it, so you can send it and not have it bounce back.

Almost all the confusion comes down to one question: are you registered for GST? That single fact decides what your document is called, whether GST goes on it, and what the ATO requires it to show. Everything else follows from there.

The ATO is blunt about it: "If you're registered for GST, your invoices should be called 'tax invoice'. If you're not registered for GST, your invoices should not include the words 'tax invoice' – you must issue standard invoices." (ATO)

• Registered for GST → your document is a tax invoice. GST is a broad-based tax of 10% on most goods, services and other items sold or consumed in Australia, and the invoice has to account for it — either as a separate amount or, in the one specific case below, as a line of wording.
• Not registered → your document is a plain invoice. No GST in your prices, and business.gov.au puts it plainly: "the word 'invoice' – you must not use 'tax invoice'". (business.gov.au)

When you have to register for GST

You must register once your GST turnover is A$75,000 or more (A$150,000 for non-profits), or straight away if you provide taxi, limousine or ride-sourcing travel — turnover doesn't matter there. You also should register when you start a new business and expect to reach the threshold in your first year. The ATO's timing rule: "You need to register within 21 days of your GST turnover exceeding the relevant threshold." (ATO)

The trap is the word *turnover*. It's "your total business income (not your profit)". business.gov.au's illustration is the clearest one going: sell A$80,000 worth of stock in a year and you have to register, "even if you only make $40,000 in profit." (business.gov.au)

One carve-out worth knowing, because it catches people who had a single big year. The ATO tests both your current turnover (this month plus the previous 11) and your projected turnover (this month plus the next 11) — and it says: "Even if your current GST turnover is at or above the threshold, you don't have to register for GST if your projected GST turnover will be less than the threshold." If you are anywhere near the line, that is a conversation to have with a registered tax agent about your own numbers, not a call to make off a web page.

If you want the longer version of the rules, we have written those up at what a Tax Invoice needs.

What has to be on it — sales under A$1,000

The ATO lists seven details a tax invoice must contain "enough information to clearly determine":

1. That the document is intended to be a tax invoice
2. Your identity. GSTR 2013/1 says this "includes, but is not limited to, the legal name of the entity or the registered business name". The same ruling warns that "a builder's registration number or licence number is insufficient in itself to identify the supplier" — your licence number is a nice-to-have, not your identity
3. Your ABN
4. The date you issued it
5. A brief description of what you sold, including quantity where it applies, and the price
6. The GST amount payable — either shown separately, or, where GST is exactly 1/11 of the total, as the words "Total price includes GST"
7. The extent to which each sale is a taxable sale. GSTR 2013/1 gives three ways to satisfy this: show the GST for each taxable sale, add a statement of the extent to which the sale is taxable, or use a reference mark against each taxable line with a corresponding statement

Note the phrasing: "enough information to clearly determine". The ATO doesn't dictate labels, layout or fonts. GSTR 2013/1 says so directly — "As long as a document meets the requirements … it will be a tax invoice regardless of how it is structured." (GSTR 2013/1)

Sales of A$1,000 or more

One extra item: "Tax invoices for sales of $1,000 or more also need to show the buyer's identity or ABN." Two wrinkles are worth knowing.

It is a GST-inclusive figure. GSTR 2013/1 frames the rule as the buyer's identity or ABN being required where "the total price of the supply or supplies is at least $1,000" — and under the GST Act, *price* is the amount payable "without any discount for the amount of GST (if any) payable on the supply". In other words, it is the number at the bottom of the invoice, GST and all. (GSTR 2013/1)

The two government sites word it differently. business.gov.au says "sales over $1000"; the ATO says "$1,000 or more". The ATO's is the tighter reading. Rather than working out which side of the line you are on, just put the customer's name on every invoice — you are then covered either way, and the ATO explicitly allows it: "If your tax invoices meet the requirements for sales of $1,000 or more, you can also use them for sales of lesser amounts." (ATO)

Two things people assume are mandatory and are not. A unique invoice number does not appear on the ATO's list at all — business.gov.au files it under "it's also a good idea to add". Same for your phone number, your payment terms and your due date. Number them anyway; it is how you will find the thing again in two years, and how your customer references it when they pay. If you want a due date that lands on a sensible business day, the invoice due date calculator will work it out from your terms.

A worked example

Half-day switchboard replacement, sparkie registered for GST. Every line here is GST-exclusive, then GST is added once at the bottom.

Two things this example is doing on purpose.

First, the subtotal is under A$1,000 but the total is not. Because the threshold runs on the GST-inclusive total price, this invoice sits in the higher band and needs the customer's identity or ABN. This is exactly the invoice people get wrong. Put the customer's name on it.

Second, GST is exactly one-eleventh of the total: A$1,096.70 ÷ 11 = A$99.70. That means this invoice could use the shortcut wording "Total price includes GST" instead of a separate GST line. Show the line anyway — your customer's bookkeeper will thank you, and it is the same calculation either way. Our GST calculator does both directions if you have quoted a GST-inclusive price and need to work backwards.

On rounding. The ATO's rounding rules deal with what happens when a GST amount runs to a fraction of a cent. Where there is a single taxable sale on the invoice, round GST to the nearest cent, with 0.5 cents rounding up. Where there is more than one, there are two accepted methods — the ATO calls them the total invoice rule and the taxable sale rule — and it adds that "you and your customers don't need to use the same rounding rules". Pick one and stay consistent. (Rounding a cash payment to the nearest five cents is a payment-handling convention at the till; it is not part of these GST rules.)

On retention. If you are on a job where the customer holds back part of the contract price until practical completion or the end of a defects liability period, GSTR 2013/1 is explicit that "the price of what is supplied is the total consideration payable including the retention amount". Your tax invoice has to let the reader work out that full price — but the ruling also says the invoice "can also show the net amount payable". So: show the full price, show the retention separately, show what is payable now. (GSTR 2013/1)

When some lines have GST and some don't

Most tradies never hit this. It comes up when you sell something GST-free alongside your normal taxable work. The ATO's GST-free list is heavily qualified — "most basic food", "some education courses, course materials and related excursions or field trips", "some medical, health and care services", "water, sewerage and drainage", exports. Note every "most" and "some" in that list, and check your specific case rather than assuming.

If you do issue a mixed invoice, the ATO requires it to "clearly show which items are taxable", plus each taxable sale, the GST to be paid, and the total to be paid. In practice that means a GST column with A$0.00 against the GST-free lines — or one of the other two methods from GSTR 2013/1 above.

One hard consequence: on a mixed invoice you cannot use "Total price includes GST". That wording is only available where GST is exactly 1/11 of the total, which it cannot be once a GST-free line is in there. GSTR 2013/1 states the principle directly — "a tax invoice cannot include words that indicate that the price of what is supplied is inclusive of GST to the extent the supply is not a taxable supply."

The same paragraph solves a related problem. If you need to send a document headed "tax invoice" for something that is not a taxable supply, the ruling says you can — provided you show the price does not include GST, for example by stating that on the document, showing GST as nil or zero, or crossing out the words "Tax Invoice" or just the word "Tax".

Sending it, and keeping it

A PDF is fine. The ATO says a tax invoice "doesn't need to be issued in paper form" and specifically names emailing a PDF as valid, as long as the document contains everything required.

If you are GST-registered, business.gov.au says you must give a tax invoice when a taxable sale is more than A$82.50 including GST, or whenever a customer asks — and on request you have 28 days to hand it over, unless the sale was A$82.50 including GST or less. The same page notes that if the invoice you sent was wrong or incomplete, it is not valid for your customer's GST credits and you will need to replace it when they ask. (business.gov.au)

One oddity if you ever receive an invoice with no "Tax Invoice" heading on it: Australia has adopted the Peppol framework for eInvoicing, and the ATO says an eInvoice issued under the A-NZ Invoice Specification satisfies the "document is intended to be a tax invoice" requirement even where those words do not appear, as long as it carries all the mandatory data.

Keep them. The ATO's rule is that you need to keep most records for at least five years, counted from when you prepared or obtained the record or completed the transaction, whichever is later — and there are situations where you need to keep them longer, including where a record feeds an assessment still within its period of review. Records must be in English or able to be easily converted to English. Don't treat five years as an expiry date. (ATO)

What trips people up

• Writing "tax invoice" when you are not registered for GST. The most common error, and the ATO says not to do it.
• Adding 10% to a price that already includes GST. If the price is GST-inclusive, the GST inside it is the price divided by 11 — not the price times 0.1.
• Leaving the ABN off. The ATO frames this as an obligation on your *business* customers: if a business supplies goods or services and does not quote an ABN, the payer generally withholds the top rate of tax from payments of more than A$75 excluding GST. The ATO's statement-by-supplier guidance puts that rate at 47% (from 1 July 2017), and the ABN has to be quoted "by the time the payment is made". That is your customer's obligation rather than a fine on you, but you still will not see the money until it is squared up. More at invoicing with an ABN. (ATO)
• Using "Total price includes GST" on a mixed invoice. Only valid when GST is exactly 1/11 of the total.
• No customer name on a four-figure invoice. See the worked example above.
• Putting your licence number where your name should be. GSTR 2013/1 says a registration or licence number is not enough on its own to identify you.
• Not marking which lines are taxable when some are not.
• A quote and an invoice that do not match. Build the invoice from the accepted quote — the quote generator carries the line items straight across, so the numbers cannot drift.

Before you send it, you can paste your details into the tax invoice checker, which flags which of the seven details the ATO lists are not showing up on your document. And if it goes unpaid, the payment reminder email generator will write the chase-up for you.

Sources

General information only, current as at the source dates listed — not tax, accounting or legal advice. Rules and thresholds change, and how they apply depends on your circumstances. For advice on your own situation, speak to a registered tax agent or BAS agent. Docketlane is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, approved by, certified by or endorsed by the ATO or any government agency.

• ATO, *Tax invoices* (last updated 25 August 2025) — ato.gov.au
• ATO, *Setting up your business invoices* — ato.gov.au
• ATO, *Registering for GST* — ato.gov.au
• ATO, *How GST works* — ato.gov.au
• ATO, *Overview of record-keeping rules for business* — ato.gov.au
• ATO, *Withholding if ABN not provided* — ato.gov.au
• ATO, *Statement by a supplier not quoting an ABN* — ato.gov.au
• ATO, *GSTR 2013/1 Goods and services tax: tax invoices* — ato.gov.au
• business.gov.au, *How to invoice* — business.gov.au
• business.gov.au, *Register for GST* — business.gov.au
• ABR, *Applying for an ABN* — abr.gov.au
• ABR, *ABN entitlement* — abr.gov.au

Common questions

Do I need to be registered for GST to send an invoice?

No. If you are not registered, you send a plain invoice with no GST on it. You just cannot call it a "tax invoice" — the ATO says invoices from unregistered businesses "should not include the words 'tax invoice'", and business.gov.au says you must not use them.

Can I charge GST if I am not registered?

No. The ATO describes a supplier that is not registered or required to be registered as one that "therefore cannot charge GST". business.gov.au puts it the same way: under A$75,000 turnover and not registered, you do not include GST in your prices, "any invoices you provide need to show that GST was not included", and you cannot claim GST credits on your business purchases.

Do I have to put my ABN on the invoice?

On a tax invoice, yes — the seller's ABN is one of the seven required details. On a regular non-tax invoice there is no legislated content list at all ("There's no law that sets out what to put in a regular invoice," says business.gov.au), but leaving the ABN off has a real cost: business customers generally have to withhold the top rate of tax from payments of more than A$75 excluding GST when no ABN is quoted. Docketlane therefore requires a valid seller ABN for every Australian client-ready export as a stricter product safeguard; draft preview remains available while the document is incomplete.

What if I do not have an ABN yet?

You are entitled to one if you are carrying on or starting an enterprise in Australia, and the ABR counts "issuing quotes or bidding for work" as a commencement activity — so you can apply before your first job, and if the application goes through cleanly the ABR says "you'll receive your 11-digit ABN immediately". Two warnings straight from the ABR: you are "not entitled to an ABN for work that you carry out as an employee — including as an apprentice, trade assistant or labourer — even if you or your employer calls it contracting", and "you may face prosecution or criminal charges if you apply for an ABN, register for GST and claim GST refunds when you're not entitled." (ABR)

Is a PDF emailed to the customer enough?

Yes. The ATO says a tax invoice "doesn't need to be issued in paper form" and gives emailing a PDF as its example. The only condition is that the document itself contains all the required information.

Do invoices need a unique invoice number?

Not legally — a number is not among the ATO's seven required details for a tax invoice. business.gov.au lists it under things it is "a good idea to add". Use one anyway: it is how you and your customer refer to the same document, and how you find it during a five-year record search.

A customer has asked for a tax invoice for a job I did three months ago. Do I have to send one?

If you are registered for GST, yes — the ATO says you must provide one within 28 days of the request, unless the sale was A$82.50 including GST or less. Note which date goes where: the ATO's required detail is the "date the invoice was issued", so that is today's date, not the date you did the work. Put the job date on it as well, in the description or as a separate service-date line, so both you and your customer can tie it back to the job. Your customer needs a valid tax invoice to claim their GST credits.

I quoted a price including GST. How do I work out the GST for the invoice?

Divide the total by 11. The ATO's own wording is that you "can work out the GST amount yourself by dividing the price by 11" — so a A$1,096.70 job contains A$99.70 of GST, and A$997.00 excluding GST. The GST calculator handles it in both directions.