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Australia · GST Act section 29-70

What has to be on a tax invoice

There is no official template — the Act asks for information, not a layout. So here is a real invoice with every requirement marked on it, and what changes at $1,000.

Checked against the Act

Checked against the legislation — how we check.

1Tax invoice

No. 2026-041

2Marlow Joinery Pty Ltd

3ABN 51 824 753 556

5Billed to

Fitzroy Cafe Co

ABN 53 004 085 616

4Issued

4 September 2026

Example tax invoice lines
6DescriptionQtyUnit priceAmount
Shopfront bench, spotted gum1$2,400.00$2,400.00
Installation, on site6$95.00$570.00
Subtotal$2,970.00
8GST$297.00
Total$3,267.00

7All items on this invoice are taxable supplies. The total price includes GST.

Every mark, and the requirement behind it

  • 1The words “Tax invoice”Requirement (d): it must be clear from the document that it was intended to be a tax invoice. It does not have to be the heading, but making it the heading is the easy way.
  • 2Your identityRequirement (c)(i). Your trading name is enough, as long as it identifies you.
  • 3Your ABNRequirement (c)(i), and the one buyers check first, because without it they may have to withhold 47% of the payment.
  • 4The date it was issuedRequirement (c)(v). The date of issue, which is not necessarily the date of the work or the date of payment.
  • 5Your customer’s identity or ABN — over $1,000Requirement (c)(ii), and only once the total price reaches $1,000. Below that it is genuinely not required, which is why so many invoices omit it and are still valid.
  • 6What you supplied, with quantity and priceRequirement (c)(iii). A description a stranger could match to the work, not just “services rendered”.
  • 7The extent to which each supply is taxableRequirement (c)(iv). On an all-taxable invoice, stating that the total includes GST does this. Where some lines are GST-free, the split has to be visible.
  • 8The GST payableRequirement (c)(vi). Show it as its own line. Where GST is exactly one eleventh of the total, a statement that the total price includes GST also works.
Fill one in instead

The invoice generator builds a real one from your details and checks these same eight items as you type.

There is no official ATO template, and that is fine

People look for a downloadable government template and do not find one, then assume they are missing something. They are not. Section 29-70(1)(b) refers to the invoice being in the “approved form”, and no form has been approved for an ordinary tax invoice — what the Act actually requires is that the document contain enough information to enable eight things to be clearly ascertained.

Two consequences follow. A tax invoice written on your own letterhead is exactly as valid as one produced by accounting software. And no template, including this one, can be “ATO-approved” — there is nothing to approve it against. Be sceptical of anything claiming otherwise.

The $1,000 line, in both directions

The only requirement that turns on the size of the invoice is your customer’s details. At or above $1,000 in total price, the invoice must let the recipient’s identity or ABN be ascertained. Below it, an invoice carrying no customer details at all still complies.

Both halves get missed. Sole traders add a full customer address to every $50.00 invoice believing the law requires it, and businesses issue five-figure invoices addressed to nobody. Only the second is a problem — but it is a real one, because a defective tax invoice is a problem for the buyer trying to claim the credit, and they will come back to you for a corrected copy.

If you are not registered for GST

Then the document is an invoice, not a tax invoice, and it shows no GST. Keep your ABN on it: an invoice without an ABN can oblige the buyer to withhold from the payment, which is a far more immediate problem than the heading. Everything else stays the same — who you are, the date, what you supplied, the total.

You must register once your GST turnover reaches $75,000. The GST calculator covers the thresholds and the two turnover tests, and the invoice generator has a no-GST mode that produces the correct document.

When part of the invoice is GST-free

Requirement seven is the one that bites here: the invoice has to show the extent to which each supply is a taxable supply. On an all-taxable invoice like the example above, saying the total includes GST satisfies it. On a mixed invoice it does not — the taxable and GST-free lines have to be distinguishable, so the buyer can work out which part carries a credit. A single “includes GST where applicable” line at the bottom is not enough.

Frequently asked questions

What has to be on an Australian tax invoice?
Eight things, from section 29-70 of the GST Act: that the document is intended as a tax invoice, your identity, your ABN, the date it was issued, what you supplied including quantity and price, the extent to which each supply is taxable, the GST payable, and — once the total price reaches $1,000 — your customer’s identity or ABN. The Act does not prescribe a layout. It asks for enough information for those things to be clearly ascertained.
Is there an official ATO tax invoice template?
No, and that is the useful thing to know. Section 29-70(1)(b) refers to the "approved form", but no form is prescribed for an ordinary tax invoice, so there is nothing to download from the ATO and nothing any template can be certified against. A tax invoice on your own letterhead is exactly as valid as one from accounting software, provided the eight items are there.
What changes at $1,000?
Only one thing: at or above $1,000 the invoice must let your customer's identity or ABN be ascertained. Below it, an invoice with no customer details at all still complies. It is the most misunderstood line in the requirements, in both directions — people add customer details to every $50 invoice believing they must, and leave them off a $5,000 one believing they need not.
What if I’m not registered for GST?
Then you issue an invoice, not a tax invoice, and you charge no GST. The heading matters: telling a customer they hold a tax invoice implies they can claim a GST credit, and if you are not registered there is none to claim. Drop the word "tax", drop the GST line, and keep your ABN on it — the ABN is what stops the buyer withholding tax from your payment.
Do I need to issue one for every sale?
Not for the small ones. A tax invoice is not required where the value of the supply is $75 or less — $82.50 including GST — under regulation 29-80.01. And the obligation runs the other way to how people usually imagine it: your customer needs the tax invoice in order to claim a GST credit, so it is generally them who asks.
What about a recipient created tax invoice?
An RCTI is issued by the buyer rather than the seller. It is only available for particular industries and arrangements, needs a written agreement between the parties, and the document itself must state that the GST is payable by the supplier. That is a legal arrangement, not a template choice, so it is not covered here.

Sources

Read from the legislation, not from a summary of it. The eight requirements are GST Act section 29-70, in compilation C2026C00081 (No. 96) in force 1 January 2026; the $75 floor is regulation 29-80.01 of the GST Regulations 2019, compilation No. 5 in force 1 November 2025. The methodology page explains how this site verifies figures.