The type of invoice you need to provide will depend on whether you're registered for goods and services tax (GST).
There are two types of invoices:
- Tax invoices - If you’re registered for GST, you're usually required to provide tax invoices.
- Regular invoices - If you run a business that is not registered for goods and services tax (GST), your invoices won’t include a tax component. These are called regular invoices. They should not include the words 'tax invoice'.
Tax invoices
A tax invoice shows that GST was included in the price of some or all of the goods and services you sold. You need to provide a tax invoice if any of these conditions apply:
- the purchase is taxable
- the purchase is more than $82.50 (including GST)
- your customer asks for a tax invoice.
When you make a taxable sale of more than $82.50 (including GST), your GST-registered customers need a tax invoice to claim a credit for the GST in the purchase price.
Recipient created tax invoices
In special cases, the buyer can provide you with the tax invoice. These are called recipient-created tax invoices (RCTIs).
Regular invoices
If your customer requests a tax invoice and you’re not registered for GST, provide a regular invoice showing there is no GST included in the price. You can do this by including the statement ‘No GST has been charged’ or by showing the GST amount as zero.