Built around the tax invoice details the ATO lists
Australian Tax Invoice Template
Create a tax invoice with your ABN, GST at 10% shown as its own figure and Australian date and currency formatting, then download a PDF. Type prices as you quoted them, GST included, and the editor sets the rate before GST so the invoice totals what the customer was quoted. Not registered for GST? Switch the setting next to your ABN and it becomes a plain invoice with no GST.
Your business and customer details stay in this browser.
- No signup
- Remembers your details
- Saves clients and items
- PDF, Word & Excel
Invoicing somewhere else? UK VAT Invoice Template · GST Invoice Format (India) · Canadian GST/HST Invoice Template
What the ATO asks a tax invoice to show
For a sale under A$1,000 the list is short. The first item is easy to misread: what the ATO asks is that the document indicates it is intended to be a tax invoice. Printing the words “Tax invoice” is how almost everyone satisfies that, and this generator does, but the wording is the usual evidence of the requirement rather than the requirement itself. Above A$1,000 the buyer’s identity is needed as well.
- That the document is intended to be a tax invoice
- Your identity as the seller, and your ABN
- The date the invoice was issued
- A description of the items sold, with quantity and price
- The GST amount payable, or a statement that the total price includes GST
- The extent to which each sale on the invoice is taxable
- The buyer’s identity or ABN, for sales of A$1,000 or more
A worked Australian tax invoice
GST is a flat 10%, which makes the arithmetic easy to check: the GST is exactly one tenth of the GST-exclusive amount, and the total is eleven tenths of it.
| Description | Qty | Rate | GST | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Site inspection and photographic record | 1 | A$450.00 | 10% | A$450.00 |
| Condition report preparation | 6 hrs | A$140.00 | 10% | A$840.00 |
| Total excluding GST | A$1,290.00 | |||
| GST at 10% | A$129.00 | |||
| Total including GST | A$1,419.00 | |||
Because every line here is taxable, the invoice can also state “Total price includes GST” instead of showing the A$129.00 separately. Where a sale is partly GST-free, the extent of the taxable part has to be shown, so keeping GST on its own line is the safer habit.
If you advertise prices with GST already in them
Australian prices are usually quoted GST-inclusive, while a tax invoice states the rate before GST and adds the GST to it. Type an advertised price into the Unit price box and the document adds GST on top of GST, so the invoice asks the customer for more than they were quoted.
Type it into Price incl. GST instead. The editor works the rate back for you and keeps the line on the quoted figure: since the GST is a tenth of the price before it, it is an eleventh of the price after it. Where the quantity makes that impossible to the cent — seven items at A$1.00 each cannot come to exactly A$7.00 once GST is rounded on the line — the line says so and shows what it comes to, instead of drifting quietly.
| Advertised price, GST included | GST inside it | Rate the editor sets |
|---|---|---|
| Call-out fee, A$110.00 | A$10.00 | A$100.00 |
| Half-day rate, A$715.00 | A$65.00 | A$650.00 |
| Annual service plan, A$1,320.00 | A$120.00 | A$1,200.00 |
| Total of the rates entered | A$1,950.00 | |
| GST the document adds | A$195.00 | |
| Total including GST | A$2,145.00 | |
| The three advertised prices, added up | A$2,145.00 | |
The last two figures are the check: the finished document lands on exactly the A$2,145.00 the advertised prices came to. Entering those advertised figures as rates instead would have produced A$2,359.50, or A$214.50 more than quoted. A price that does not divide evenly by eleven behaves the same way — A$100.00 all up is A$9.09 of GST on a rate of A$90.91, and the document adds the two back to A$100.00.
ABN, GST registration and the threshold
These three are related but not the same, and only one of them is about the invoice.
- ABN
- An eleven-digit business number. Without one quoted, a business customer may be required to withhold from your payment at the top rate, subject to the exceptions in the withholding rules.
- GST registration
- Separate from having an ABN. Compulsory once turnover reaches the registration threshold, and optional below it. You only charge GST once registered.
- Invoicing with an ABN but no GST
- A business not registered for GST issues a regular invoice, not a tax invoice: it is headed “Invoice”, must not say “tax invoice”, and shows no GST. Set GST registration to “Not registered” next to the ABN field and the editor heads the document “Invoice”, takes GST off every line, and leaves the GST column and total out of the preview, PDF, Word and Excel files. The check then confirms the heading and that no GST is charged. Switch back to “Registered” and 10% returns to every line.
- GST-free vs input-taxed
- GST-free supplies carry no GST but you can still claim credits on their inputs. Input-taxed supplies carry no GST and you cannot.
Before you send it
Confirm the ABN is right, that the document reads as a tax invoice, and that a sale of A$1,000 or more names the buyer.
Invoice Workshop lays the document out and does the arithmetic. It does not decide whether you must be registered for GST, whether a particular supply is taxable, GST-free or input-taxed, or whether a document it produces meets the ATO’s requirements in your circumstances. The requirements above were checked against ATO guidance on 2 September 2026. The ATO or your accountant is the place to settle anything that matters.