Tax Invoices for Australian Customers When You Sell From Overseas (2026)
Part of the guide: Staying compliant
A valid tax invoice is what lets a GST-registered Australian business claim back one-eleventh of what it paid you. Get it right and a A$1,100 order costs that customer A$1,000 net; get it wrong and they either can’t claim, or they buy from a seller who can invoice properly. For an overseas seller the rules come down to four things. Amazon issues the tax invoice only for third-party goods it ships from overseas at A$1,000 or less; for FBA stock, or anything shipped from within Australia, the seller does. A tax invoice must show seven details under section 29-70 of the GST Act, with the buyer’s identity or ABN added from A$1,000, and none is needed at A$82.50 or less. A simplified GST registration, which runs on an ATO reference number instead of an ABN, cannot issue one at all. And only the sales you are the GST supplier of should carry GST on the invoice in the first place.
That last point is where most mistakes live: GST added to a marketplace parcel the platform has already taxed, or to a A$2,000 consignment that will be taxed again at the border, or an order summary sent to a business buyer who needed an ABN on the page.
(General information for FY 2026–27, not tax advice for your circumstances. The tax invoice rules were read on 12 October 2026 from the ATO legal database (GST Act sections 29-70, 29-80 and Division 146, GSTR 2013/1, LCR 2018/1) and the ATO’s tax invoice and registration pages. Amazon’s practice is as described on amazon.com.au’s help pages the same day; it is a commercial setting and may change. The A$75,000 registration threshold is not indexed and may change.)
| Question | Short answer |
|---|---|
| Does Amazon issue the tax invoice? | Only for third-party goods shipped from overseas at A$1,000 or less. FBA stock, goods shipped from within Australia, parcels over A$1,000: the customer asks you |
| What must it show? | Seven details incl. your ABN; the buyer’s identity or ABN from A$1,000; within 28 days; none needed at A$82.50 or less |
| Can I issue one on simplified GST? | No. An ARN holder can’t issue tax invoices or claim GST credits. Standard registration with an ABN can |
| Which sales carry GST on my invoice? | Warehoused stock; own-site parcels of A$1,000 or less to consumers. Not marketplace direct-ship; not consignments over A$1,000 |
1. Does Amazon give my Australian customer a GST invoice?
Only in one third-party case, and it isn’t the FBA seller’s. Amazon’s help page says that for third-party orders “shipped from overseas, which have a customs value of $1,000 AU or less”, the customer “can find a printable version of the tax invoice in Your Account”. For third-party orders “fulfilled by Amazon AU; or shipped from within Australia; or shipped from overseas, which have a customs value of greater than $1,000 AU”, Amazon is “unable to provide tax invoices” and the customer must “contact the seller to ask for one”. And in bold on the same page: “The amazon.com.au order summary is not a tax invoice.”
The pattern follows who the GST supplier is. For goods of A$1,000 or less shipped from overseas to a consumer through a marketplace, the platform operator is treated as the supplier; Amazon’s page on low value imported goods says it “will calculate, collect and remit 10% GST on all LVIG sold on amazon.com.au through Amazon Global Store or third party (3P) sellers, and shipped from overseas”. It collected the tax, so it produces the document. For stock in an Australian fulfilment centre, the ATO’s guidance is that the merchant “will have a GST obligation for the goods sold because the goods are located in Australia” and the platform “is not treated as the supplier”. You collected the tax, so the document is yours; our article on who the supplier is sets out that test.
| Amazon order type | GST collected by | Tax invoice comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Third-party seller, shipped from overseas, customs value A$1,000 or less | Amazon, as the platform | Amazon (Your Account) |
| Third-party seller, fulfilled by Amazon AU from Australian stock | The seller, if registered | The seller, on request |
| Third-party seller, shipped from within Australia by the seller | The seller, if registered | The seller, on request |
| Third-party seller, shipped from overseas, over A$1,000 | Nobody at checkout: the border, from the importer | Nobody: order summary only |
So when a buyer messages “please send a tax invoice” on an FBA order, don’t point them at Your Orders: if you are registered and the sale was taxable, section 29-70(2) gives you 28 days to give them one, and a PDF through the platform’s messaging or by email is fine. One invoice runs the other way, too. Amazon’s monthly fee invoice is your tax invoice for the GST on FBA storage, pick-and-pack and shipping; which lines carry GST is in GST on Amazon seller fees.
2. What must a tax invoice show in Australia?
Seven details, and an eighth from A$1,000. The ATO’s list for sales under A$1,000: the document “is intended to be a tax invoice”, the “seller’s identity”, the “seller’s Australian business number (ABN)”, the “date the invoice was issued”, a “brief description of the items sold, including the quantity (if applicable) and the price”, the “GST amount (if any) payable”, and the “extent to which each sale on the invoice is a taxable sale”. Then: “Tax invoices for sales of $1,000 or more also need to show the buyer’s identity or ABN.”
The statute is section 29-70(1): a tax invoice “is issued by the supplier”, is “in the approved form”, lets each of those details “be clearly ascertained”, and “it can be clearly ascertained from the document that the document was intended to be a tax invoice”. The words “Tax invoice” on the page do that last job.
- The GST line has two forms. Show the GST separately, or, “if the GST amount is exactly one-eleventh of the total price”, state “Total price includes GST”. A mixed sale (some items GST-free) “must clearly show which items are taxable”, the GST and the total.
- Digital is fine. “You can issue a tax invoice to a customer by emailing an invoice in portable document format (PDF) or other digital formats.”
- Near misses can be rescued. Section 29-70(1A) treats a document as a tax invoice where it falls short only because “it does not contain certain information” and that information “can be clearly ascertained from other documents” you gave the customer. A safety net, not a plan.
- 28 days. “The supplier of a taxable supply must, within 28 days after the recipient of the supply requests it, give to the recipient a tax invoice for the supply” (section 29-70(2)), and GSTR 2013/1 notes penalties can apply for failing to.
- A$82.50 or less, none needed. Section 29-80 and the regulations set the low-value line at a value of A$75, which “corresponds with a price of $82.50” GST-inclusive; the ATO’s page says you must provide one within 28 days “unless it is for a sale of $82.50 (including GST) or less”. The line applies to the whole transaction, so five A$20 items in one order need a tax invoice.
3. Can an overseas seller issue a tax invoice at all? ARN versus ABN
Only on a standard GST registration. The ATO’s simplified GST page says that by registering “you elect to be a limited registration entity”, which means “you are not entitled to: have an ABN; claim GST credits for purchases”, and that simplified GST means you “use an ATO reference number (ARN)”, “can’t issue tax invoices” and “can’t claim GST credits”. The standard registration page is for non-resident businesses that “are entitled to or have an Australian business number (ABN)”, “want to issue tax invoices” and “want to claim GST credits”.
The reason is structural. The first thing section 29-70(1)(c) requires on a tax invoice is “the supplier’s identity and the supplier’s ABN”; a limited registration entity has a twelve-digit ARN and no ABN, so no document it issues can meet the definition. Division 146 backs that: section 146-10 says an acquisition by a limited registration entity “is not a creditable acquisition”, section 146-15 says the same of importations. It is a deliberately light regime, no proof of identity, no ABN, no BAS, and in exchange no credits and no tax invoices. You cannot hold both: “If you hold an ABN, you can’t hold an ATO reference number (ARN); ARN, you can’t hold an ABN.”
Who this bites is any overseas seller whose customers include Australian businesses. A consumer doesn’t need a tax invoice; a GST-registered business does, because without one it cannot claim its one-eleventh. On simplified registration every business buyer pays 10% more for your goods than for an invoicing competitor’s, and the day one asks for a tax invoice you have nothing to give.
The fix is the standard registration: an ABN, “proof of identity”, a BAS each month or quarter, and the ATO notes you “may need” an Australian registered tax agent to lodge. The entitlement for a non-resident comes through making supplies connected with Australia, and it unlocks what simplified never could: the credit for the GST on your FBA fees and the import GST paid at the border. Our simplified versus standard registration article compares the two; how to get an ABN as a non-resident covers the identity documents that slow the application.
4. Which of your sales should carry GST on the invoice in the first place?
Only the ones you are the GST supplier of. For an overseas seller that is two lanes: goods sold from stock already in Australia, and parcels of A$1,000 or less shipped from overseas to consumers through your own website. Marketplace direct-ship parcels are the platform’s, and consignments over A$1,000 are taxed at the border, so neither should show GST on anything you issue.
| Lane | Who is the supplier | GST on your document? | The document |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stock in an Australian warehouse (FBA, 3PL), sold to anyone | You | Yes, 10% | A tax invoice within 28 days of a request |
| Shipped from overseas, A$1,000 or less, to a consumer, through a marketplace | The platform | No | The platform’s receipt or tax invoice |
| Shipped from overseas, A$1,000 or less, to a consumer, from your own site | You, if registered or required to be | Yes, 10% on the delivered price | Your order confirmation, as the section 84-89 notice; on an ABN it doubles as the tax invoice |
| Same parcel to a GST-registered business that gave its ABN and a statement | Not a consumer, so not connected with Australia | No | A notice without GST, carrying their ABN for the customs paperwork |
| Consignment over A$1,000, shipped from overseas | Nobody at checkout | No | The importer pays GST and duty at the border |
Own-site parcels under A$1,000. Where you are the supplier of low value imported goods, GST is charged on the price including shipping, and section 84-89 says you “must give the recipient of a supply a notice of the amount of GST (if any) payable”. LCR 2018/1 says the notice “can be in an electronic form, such as an email confirmation or receipt”, showing your name, “the GST registration number of the supplier, which is either an ATO Reference Number (ARN) or Australian Business Number (ABN)”, the buyer’s name “only … if the total price of the transaction is over $1,000”, the date, the goods with GST-inclusive price, and the GST. On an ABN that is the tax invoice; on an ARN it is a receipt. The ruling also expects your registration number, the buyer’s ABN if disclosed, and the taxable extent to pass “through the logistics chain” to the customs documents.
Business buyers on direct-ship. The low value goods rules make a sale connected with Australia only “if the recipient is a consumer”. A buyer that gives you its ABN and a statement that it is registered for GST is not a consumer, so no GST, and the notice “would not include an amount of GST payable”; the ATO asks you to confirm the ABN on ABN Lookup. And over A$1,000, GST is “charged to the importer at the border” even where a supplier wrongly added it at checkout; our low value imported goods article has the consignment rules.
5. A business customer asks for a tax invoice: what to send, and when
Check the lane, then send a document that carries your ABN, within 28 days. If the sale sat in a lane where you are not the supplier, say so and point them at the platform’s document or the border receipt; a tax invoice from you with GST on it would be wrong, not helpful.
- Which lane was it? Warehoused stock or own-site parcel under A$1,000 to a consumer: yours. Marketplace direct-ship: the platform’s. Over A$1,000: the border’s.
- Which registration do you hold? Standard with an ABN: issue it. Simplified with an ARN: you can’t, and if business buyers are a real part of your sales that is the moment to change.
- The seven details, their identity or ABN from A$1,000, within 28 days, as a PDF. Build the buyer-ABN field into the template; for a trade or office buyer it is nearly every order.
- Never the order summary, the packing slip or the settlement report.
A document with no ABN has one more consequence, and it lands on your customer: an Australian business paying a supplier that quotes no ABN may have to withhold 47% of the payment unless an exception applies. Non-resident suppliers have a path through it, set out in our no-ABN withholding article; the buyer’s accounts team looks for the ABN before anything else.
Priya runs a Singapore company selling desk lamps to Australia on a standard GST registration with an ABN.
| Sale | Supplier | GST on Priya’s document | What she issues |
|---|---|---|---|
| A. One lamp from Melbourne FC stock to a consumer, A$165 | Priya | A$15 | A tax invoice if asked, within 28 days |
| A2. Ten lamps from the same stock to a GST-registered business, A$1,650 | Priya | A$150 | A tax invoice that also shows the buyer’s identity or ABN; the buyer claims the A$150 |
| B. One lamp shipped from Singapore through the marketplace, A$165 | The platform | None | Nothing; the platform’s system issues it |
| C. One lamp from her own site to a consumer, A$165 | Priya | A$15 | The order confirmation: name, ABN, date, goods, “includes GST”; it is the tax invoice |
| C2. Same lamp to a business that gave its ABN and GST statement | Not connected | None | A confirmation without GST, noting their ABN |
| D. Twenty lamps in one A$2,200 consignment to a consumer | Nobody at checkout | None | An invoice without GST; A$200 plus any duty is collected at the border |
| E. A replacement bulb, A$79 | Priya | A$7.18 | No tax invoice required at A$82.50 or less |
Seven sales, four different documents, and GST on only three of them.
Where it’s worth getting help
If you hold an ABN and sell from an Australian warehouse, the free path is short: a template with the seven details and a buyer-ABN field, and the habit of answering requests inside 28 days.
The judgment calls are these:
- Simplified to standard. The ARN was right while every buyer was a consumer; it stops being right the month a distributor or an office asks for a tax invoice, and the switch cannot be backdated to fix the invoices you couldn’t issue.
- Mixed channels. The same lamp can sit in three lanes in one week, and the invoice is right only if the checkout knows which lane each order was in.
- Business buyers on direct-ship. No GST, their ABN on the notice, and the information passed to the carrier for the customs entry; miss it and the goods can be taxed again at the border.
- The credit side. The standard registration is also what lets you claim the GST on Amazon’s fee invoices and at the border, and those claims need the invoices kept.
That’s the difference between doing it and doing it right the first time: the seller whose first business customer had an ABN-bearing tax invoice within two days, versus the one who sent an order summary, lost the account, and only then found out the simplified registration was the reason.
If you’d like that looked at properly, our initial assessment form scopes it in about twelve questions, including which registration you hold, where the stock sits and who your buyers are, without needing a meeting. If the answer is a standard registration, the ABN application and GST registration check pages are the next step.
FY 2026–27. General information, not tax advice for your circumstances. The tax invoice rules are the GST Act and the ATO’s published guidance at 12 October 2026; Amazon’s invoicing practice is as described on amazon.com.au’s help pages on that date and is a commercial setting that may change. The A$75,000 GST registration turnover threshold is not indexed and may change; confirm the current figure.
Does this apply to you?
Book a free consultation — your situation, your options, and a fixed-fee quote within one business day.