Selling to Australia from Overseas: GST Guide

Short answer: an overseas business must register for Australian GST once its sales to Australian consumers reach A$75,000 in 12 months. That covers digital products and services, and physical goods worth A$1,000 or less shipped to Australia. Most use simplified GST registration: no ABN, a 12-digit ATO reference number, a two-line return every quarter. Sales to GST-registered Australian businesses aren’t charged GST and don’t count. Goods over A$1,000 are taxed at the border, and marketplaces collect GST on what you sell through them.

This guide is for stores, SaaS and app businesses based outside Australia with Australian customers. Based in Australia? Start with the Australia GST hub. It’s current as of 12 November 2026.

What applies to you: find your situation

You sell…	To Australian…	What you do about GST
Software, SaaS, apps, streaming, e-books, online courses, consulting	Consumers	Register and charge 10% once these sales reach A$75,000 a year
The same	GST-registered businesses that give you their ABN	Nothing. No GST, and the sales don’t count towards A$75,000
Physical goods worth A$1,000 or less, shipped from overseas	Consumers	Register and charge 10% at checkout once these sales reach A$75,000 a year
Physical goods over A$1,000	Anyone	No registration for these. The buyer pays GST and duty at the border
Anything through Amazon, eBay, Etsy, the App Store or Google Play	Consumers	The marketplace usually charges GST for you
Goods stored in an Australian warehouse (including Amazon FBA Australia)	Anyone	These are local sales. Register at A$75,000 and charge GST like an Australian business

Done-for-you tax compliance

Let GoodVat register and lodge for you

Tell us where you sell. Our Australian accountants register you for GST, prepare and lodge every BAS with the ATO on time, and take care of GST, VAT and sales tax in the other countries you sell to.

• GST registration, standard or simplified
• Every BAS and GST return lodged on time
• NZ GST, UK VAT and US sales tax handled too

Your filingsQ3 2026

1. AUBusiness activity statement$6,412.30Filed
2. NZNZ GST return$1,873.45Filed
3. GBUK VAT · MTD£942.18Filed
4. TXTexas sales tax$538.60Scheduled

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The A$75,000 threshold for overseas sellers

You must register within 21 days of your GST turnover connected with Australia reaching A$75,000, on either of two tests:

• Current: this month plus the previous 11 months.
• Projected: this month plus the next 11 months.

What counts is narrower than for an Australian business:

Counts	Doesn’t count
Digital products and services sold to Australian consumers	Sales to GST-registered Australian businesses
Goods of A$1,000 or less shipped to Australian consumers from your own store	Sales a marketplace is responsible for
Sales of goods already in Australia	Goods over A$1,000 (taxed at the border)
	Your sales to every other country

Example: a Berlin SaaS company bills A$140,000 a year to Australian customers: A$95,000 to companies that gave their ABN and A$45,000 to individuals and sole traders who didn’t. Only the A$45,000 counts, so it doesn’t need to register yet.

Simplified or standard registration

	Simplified GST registration	Standard GST registration
Who it suits	Overseas sellers of digital products, services and low-value goods to consumers	Businesses with Australian costs, stock or business customers who need tax invoices
Identifier	ATO reference number (ARN), 12 digits	Usually an ABN
Proof of identity	Not needed	Needed
Returns	Quarterly, online, two figures	Business activity statement (BAS)
Claim GST on Australian costs	No	Yes
Issue tax invoices	No	Yes
Payment	Australian dollars, by SWIFT transfer or card, using your payment reference number	Australian dollars

Most overseas stores and SaaS businesses choose simplified, because they have no Australian costs to claim. Choose standard if you hold stock in Australia, pay import GST you want back, or sell to Australian businesses that want tax invoices.

How to register (simplified)

1. Get an AUSid (the ATO’s login for non-residents) and sign in to Online services for non-residents. The ATO has said a Digital ID such as myID will be needed from early 2027.
2. Select GST simplified reporting and fill in your business details. No identity documents, no ABN.
3. The ATO issues your ARN: 12 digits, for example 12 345 678 9012.
4. Add the ARN to your customer receipts and, for goods, to the customs documents on each parcel.
5. Start charging 10% to Australian consumers from your registration date.

Digital products and services

Since 1 July 2017, imported services and digital products sold to Australian consumers carry 10% GST. That includes:

• SaaS, software and apps, games and in-app purchases
• Streaming and downloads: video, music, e-books, podcasts
• Online courses, webinars and coaching
• Consulting, design, legal and other professional services
• Memberships and subscriptions

Who is an Australian consumer? Someone who is an Australian resident and isn’t buying as a GST-registered business. Take reasonable steps with the information your checkout already collects (billing address, card country, IP address), and treat customers who don’t give you an ABN as consumers.

Pricing: GST is charged on the price the customer pays. Most international SaaS businesses either add 10% at checkout for Australian consumers or set AUD prices that include it.

Physical goods of A$1,000 or less

Since 1 July 2018, goods with a customs value of A$1,000 or less sold to Australian consumers carry GST charged by the seller at checkout, not at the border. Tobacco and alcohol are excluded.

• The A$1,000 test uses the customs value when the price is agreed: the sale price, without international freight and insurance. Test each item separately, unless you know the order will ship in one consignment worth more than A$1,000, in which case it’s taxed at the border instead.
• The GST you charge is 10% of everything the customer pays, including shipping.
• Put your ARN (or ABN) and the GST paid on the customs paperwork, so the parcel isn’t taxed a second time at the border.
• Redeliverers (parcel-forwarding services) can be liable when they help an Australian consumer ship goods from an overseas store that doesn’t deliver to Australia.

Example: a UK homewares brand ships about 90 orders a month to Australian consumers from its Shopify store, averaging A$88 including shipping. That’s about A$95,000 a year, over A$75,000. It registers with simplified registration and adds 10% to Australian checkouts: an A$76 basket plus A$12 shipping becomes A$96.80. Over a year it lodges about A$9,500 of GST across four quarterly returns.

Goods over A$1,000

Orders with a customs value over A$1,000 are taxable importations. The buyer, as importer, pays GST at the border, calculated on the customs value plus duty, freight and insurance, plus customs duty where it applies (often 5%, or 0% under a free trade agreement) and clearance charges. You don’t charge GST at checkout on these.

If you sell on DDP terms (you pay the duties), you or your carrier pay those charges at the border. A standard GST registration lets you claim that import GST back.

Selling to Australian businesses

Don’t charge GST when an Australian customer:

1. gives you its ABN, and
2. tells you it’s registered for GST.

You can check an ABN for free on ABN Lookup, which shows whether it’s registered for GST. Keep the ABN and the customer’s statement with the order. These sales stay outside your A$75,000. A business customer that buys for private use can owe GST itself under the reverse charge, but that’s its responsibility, not yours.

Marketplaces and app stores

Amazon, eBay, Etsy and the app stores count as electronic distribution platforms. For sales made through them to Australian consumers, the platform is usually responsible for GST:

• Goods of A$1,000 or less shipped from overseas: the marketplace charges and reports GST. You don’t.
• Apps and in-app purchases: the App Store and Google Play charge and report GST.
• Goods already in Australia (stock in an Australian warehouse or Amazon fulfilment centre): you’re responsible, not the marketplace.
• Your own website: always yours. Marketplace sales don’t count towards your own A$75,000, but your own store’s sales do.

A marketplace and a seller can agree in writing that the seller takes on the GST, but that’s rare for small sellers.

Quarterly returns and payment

A simplified GST return has two figures, both in Australian dollars:

Field	What goes in
Total Australian taxable sales	Sales to Australian consumers, before GST, including refunds and adjustments for the quarter
GST payable	Usually 10% of the first figure

Quarter	Due
July to September	28 October
October to December	28 February
January to March	28 April
April to June	28 July

Pay by SWIFT transfer or card, quoting your payment reference number (PRN). Convert foreign-currency sales at a consistent exchange rate, such as the rate on the day of sale or the ATO’s published rates. File a nil return for quarters with no Australian sales.

Penalties

The ATO matches data from payment providers and marketplaces. If you should have registered and didn’t, it registers you from the date you crossed A$75,000, and you owe 10% of your Australian consumer sales since then, whether or not you charged it, plus the general interest charge and penalties. A late return costs A$364 for each 28 days it’s late, up to A$1,820 for a small business (penalty unit value from 1 July 2026).

Official sources

• GST registration for non-resident businesses, Australian Taxation Office
• Simplified GST registration, Australian Taxation Office
• How to charge GST on imported services, digital products and low value imported goods, Australian Taxation Office
• Non-resident businesses making online sales to Australia, Australian Taxation Office
• LCR 2018/1: GST on low value imported goods, Australian Taxation Office
• LCR 2018/2: GST on supplies made through electronic distribution platforms, Australian Taxation Office

Selling to Australia from overseas?

Tell us what you sell and roughly how much goes to Australian consumers. GoodVat tracks your sales against A$75,000, charges 10% only where it applies (not on business customers or parcels over A$1,000), and our accountants register you and lodge every quarterly return. The same account covers your other countries.

Ask a tax expertor email hello@goodvat.com

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