Do I Need to Register for GST as a Tradie?

If your trade business is growing, GST registration is one of the first compliance questions that lands on your plate. Get it right and it's a five-minute job. Get it wrong and the ATO can come back years later for GST you never collected. Here's exactly when you have to register, when you might want to, and how to do it. And a breakdown on whether you need to.

When Do I Have to Register for GST?

You must register for GST once your GST turnover reaches $75,000. The number that trips most tradies up is the timeframe: it's any rolling 12-month period, not the financial year. The ATO looks both backwards (your turnover over the last 12 months) and forwards (your projected turnover for the next 12 months). Cross the threshold on either test and you're in.

Once you cross it, you have 21 days to register. The $75,000 threshold has been unchanged since 1 July 2000, so don't assume it's crept up. Non-profit organisations get a higher $150,000 threshold. And if you drive a taxi or do rideshare as part of your business, you must register from your very first dollar — there's no threshold for that work.

What Counts as GST Turnover for a Tradie?

GST turnover is your gross business income from all your activities, before expenses. It's the total of what you invoice clients — not your profit, and not what's left after you've paid for materials, fuel and tools.

A couple of things to know. Your turnover figure excludes the GST itself, and it excludes input-taxed sales (most tradies won't have any). If you run more than one income stream — say carpentry plus a bit of labour hire — it all rolls into the one $75,000 threshold. There's no separate allowance per activity. The simplest check: add up everything you've invoiced over the last 12 months. If it's near $75,000, it's time to pay attention.

Do I Need to Register for GST If I'm Under $75k?

No. If your turnover is under $75,000 and you're not doing taxi or rideshare work, GST registration is optional. You're not doing anything wrong by staying out of the system, and plenty of sole traders and small operators do exactly that on purpose.

The main reason is simple: without GST, the price is the price.

• No extra line on the quote. What you quote is what the client pays. No 10% on top, no explaining what the extra bit is for.

• You're cheaper to homeowners. Residential clients can't claim GST back, so 10% is a straight 10% increase to them. Against a GST-registered competitor quoting the same labour and materials, you come in lower on the same work.

• Less to calculate. No splitting out GST on every invoice, no working out what's yours and what's the ATO's.

• No BAS. No quarterly lodgement, no separate GST account to manage, no deadline to miss.

• Your invoices stay simple. You issue a plain "Invoice" rather than a "Tax invoice", and there's no GST line to get wrong.

For a tradie doing a couple of days a week, or someone just starting out, that simplicity is worth real money in time not spent on admin.

The trade-offs of staying out

• No GST credits. The 10% you pay on tools, materials, fuel and equipment is a cost you wear. If you're spending heavily on materials, this is the number that matters most.

• No quarterly rhythm. Registered businesses get a quarterly BAS that forces them to square up with the ATO four times a year. Without one, nothing prompts you, so your income tax lands as a single bill at tax time. Set money aside as you go, or it stings.

• Watch the threshold. It's rolling, not financial-year. Get busy for a few months and you can cross $75,000 without noticing. See the late registration section below. Backdating is expensive.

Note: staying under the GST threshold doesn't automatically mean no quarterly obligations at all. The ATO can enter sole traders into PAYG instalments based on your last tax return, which is separate from GST. If that happens they'll notify you.

Should I Register Voluntarily If I'm Under $75k?

You're allowed to register voluntarily before you hit the threshold, and for some tradies it's worth it. The upside is GST credits: once registered, you can claim back the 10% GST on tools, materials, vehicle running costs and other business purchases.

The trade-offs are real, though. You'll need to lodge a Business Activity Statement (BAS), usually quarterly, and once you register, you must stay registered for at least 12 months.

The rough rule: if most of your clients are GST-registered businesses and you're spending big on materials and equipment, voluntary registration can pay off. If you mostly work for homeowners, staying under the threshold often keeps you more competitive.

What Changes the Day I Register?

Three things change. First, you start adding 10% GST to your prices — your $1,000 job becomes a $1,100 job, and the extra $100 is the ATO's, not yours.

Second, you must issue proper tax invoices. A tax invoice has seven required elements and must show the GST amount (or state "Total price includes GST"). Only GST-registered businesses can use the words "Tax invoice" — everyone else issues a plain "Invoice."

Third, you start lodging a BAS and you can claim GST credits on your business purchases. The GST you collect, minus the GST you've paid, is what you remit to the ATO each period. A practical tip: set aside the GST you collect in a separate account as it comes in, so the BAS payment never catches you short.

How Do I Actually Register?

You need an ABN first — you can't register for GST without one. If you've already got an ABN, registering for GST is straightforward:

• Online through the ATO's online services (via myGov for sole traders, or Online services for business)

• Through a registered tax or BAS agent, who can do it on your behalf

• By phone on the ATO's business line, 13 28 66

You can often do it at the same time as applying for your ABN. Registration itself is free.

What If I Registered Late?

If you should have registered and didn't, the ATO can backdate your registration by up to four years. That's the part that hurts: you become liable for the GST you should have charged across that whole period — but your old invoices didn't include it, so you're paying it out of your own pocket.

On top of the unpaid GST, you can be hit with penalties and interest. There's no way to go back to a client from two years ago and ask for an extra 10%. This is why the 21-day rule matters: the moment your turnover crosses $75,000, register. Late registration is one of the most expensive avoidable mistakes a growing trade business can make.

When (and How) Do I Deregister?

If your circumstances change — you scale back, you drop below the threshold, or you stop trading — you can cancel your GST registration. If you're stopping the activity, you must cancel within 21 days of doing so.

One catch worth knowing: cancelling your registration can trigger a GST liability on business assets you still hold, such as tools, equipment or a work ute that you claimed GST credits on. It's not a clean exit in every case, so it's worth a quick check with your accountant before you deregister.

What About the UK and Ireland?

If you trade in the UK or Ireland, the rules are different. Both run their own VAT systems with their own registration thresholds — and they are not the same as Australia's $75,000. The UK's VAT registration threshold has been £90,000 since the April 2024 update. Ireland sets separate thresholds for goods and for services. Because these figures change, check the current threshold directly with HMRC (UK) or Revenue (Ireland) before you rely on a number.

What GST Registration Means for Your Quotes and Invoices

Once you're registered, every quote and invoice needs to handle GST correctly — 10% shown clearly, the right wording, and the seven tax-invoice elements in place. Chippie pre-populates your ABN and GST settings so the tax invoices you send are compliant by default.

For the detail on getting those documents right, see our guide on writing winning quotes as a tradie. And once you're charging GST, knowing exactly what to put on an Australian invoice keeps you compliant and gets you paid faster.