How to create a GST tax invoice in Australia

What a valid tax invoice must include

For most taxable sales, the ATO requires a tax invoice to contain enough information to clearly show the following:

• the words "Tax invoice";
• the seller's identity and ABN;
• the date the invoice was issued;
• a brief description of the items sold, including quantity and price;
• the GST amount payable — 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 item sold is a taxable sale.

Sales of $1,000 or more

If the total price of the sale is $1,000 or more, the tax invoice must also show the buyer's identity or ABN.

The $82.50 threshold

A customer who is registered for GST generally needs a valid tax invoice to claim a GST credit for purchases of more than $82.50 (including GST). Below that, a receipt is usually enough — but a proper invoice never hurts.

Each requirement, checked against this generator

Not a compliance promise — a field-by-field account of what the tool actually prints, so you can verify it yourself.

How GST is calculated

Australia's GST is a flat 10% on most goods and services. On a tax invoice:

• GST-inclusive total = price × 1.10;
• the GST portion of a GST-inclusive total = total ÷ 11.

Our generator does this arithmetic for you, lets you set the rate (with your own effective-dated rates, so an invoice automatically uses the rate that applied on its date), because you — not us — own the correct rate for your situation.

Scope: what this generator does and doesn't cover

The generator applies one GST treatment across the whole invoice. You choose standard-rate GST, or a whole-invoice zero-rated (GST-free), input-taxed or reverse-charge treatment, and the generator prints its own clarity statement for that selection automatically. That single statement covers the ATO's "extent to which each sale is taxable" requirement only when every line shares the same treatment. Mixed-rate line items — some items GST-free and others standard-rated on the same invoice — aren't supported yet; that's a larger, separate feature.

The document title stays "Tax invoice" even for a wholly GST-free or input-taxed selection — that's not an oversight. The ATO's own ruling on tax invoices (GSTR 2013/1) allows a document headed "tax invoice" for a supply that isn't a taxable supply, provided it clearly shows the price doesn't include GST — which the printed clarity statement does. The ruling's alternative is to strike the word "Tax" from the heading instead; this generator uses the first option, not the second.

Worked examples — what each treatment prints

The statement printed for each selection, generated live from the same code the generator itself runs — not a phrase the ATO prescribes, but text you can check against your own invoice. The exempt category prints using the ATO's own term, input taxed — the ATO explains that "exempt" is the equivalent term used in other VAT/GST jurisdictions, not Australia's, so this generator avoids it for AU invoices:

How to pay, printed on the invoice

Your bank details (BSB, account number), BPAY biller code and reference, or PayID print automatically once set up in your Business Profile — only the fields relevant to Australian payments, never foreign-bank fields left over from another country.

Frequently asked questions

Related: not sure whether you need to charge GST at all yet? See our GST registration guide for freelancers, or head to the GST invoice generator page.