Guides · Selling into Australia
The money: GST on fees, credits, refunds, penalties and costs
Where the actual dollars sit. Which platform fees carry GST and who can claim it, what a late registration really costs, which refunds overseas businesses can and cannot get, and what compliant selling costs once you strip out the government fees, which are nil.
The short version
- Amazon, eBay and Shopify fees charged to an overseas seller are generally supplied GST-free as exports; fees charged to an Australian-registered seller carry GST that is claimable.
- The ATO charges no fee for an ABN, a TFN or a GST registration. Anyone charging you a government fee for these is charging for their own service.
- Late registration costs the GST on the sales you should have reported, less credits, plus interest. Penalties are usually remitted for a voluntary catch-up.
- Overseas businesses on standard GST registration can claim credits like any local business; on simplified registration they can claim nothing.
GST on your fees is a sign, not a cost
If your marketplace statement shows Australian GST on your selling fees, the platform has you recorded as an Australian-registered business, and every dollar of that GST is claimable on your BAS. If it shows none, you are being billed as an export customer. Neither is wrong, but each should match how you are actually registered, and a mismatch is the quickest way to spot a setup error.
What the compliant version costs
Government fees are zero. What costs money is time, mistakes and advice. The mistakes are the expensive part: import GST paid with no way to claim it, GST charged on sales the platform already remitted, and a registration that should have started two years earlier. A fixed fee for getting it right at the start is almost always smaller than any one of those.
Common questions
- Is there GST on Amazon seller fees in Australia?
- For an overseas seller without an Australian GST registration on file, Amazon's fees are generally supplied GST-free as an export of services. For a seller registered for GST in Australia, the fees carry 10% GST, which is claimable as an input tax credit.
- How much does an ABN cost?
- Nothing. The Australian Business Register does not charge for an ABN, and the ATO does not charge for a TFN or GST registration. Fees you see are for the service of preparing and lodging the application.
- What are the penalties for registering late for GST?
- The GST that should have been charged on sales in the unregistered period becomes payable, less any credits you can claim, plus general interest. Failure-to-register penalties exist but the ATO commonly remits them when a business comes forward voluntarily.
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