Guide · GST
GST on supplier bills: what to check before you claim a credit.
A short checklist for the bills that cross your desk each month. It isn't tax advice — the ATO's guidance is the authority, and it's linked at the end.
When you need a tax invoice
To claim a GST credit on a purchase, a business registered for GST generally needs a valid tax invoice from the supplier. For purchases of $82.50 or less (including GST) a tax invoice isn't required, but you still need a record such as a receipt.
The supplier must give you a tax invoice within 28 days if you ask for one.
What a tax invoice should show
Check the bill shows:
- that it is intended to be a tax invoice
- the supplier's identity and ABN
- the date it was issued
- a brief description of what was sold, with quantity and price
- the GST amount, or a statement that the total includes GST
- the extent to which each item is taxable
- for sales of $1,000 or more, the buyer's identity or ABN
Checks worth doing before the bill reaches the ledger
Most mistakes on supplier bills aren't about the rules — they're about the numbers. These are the checks we'd do by hand, and the ones FinAiQ does on every bill:
- Do the line items add up to the total? A missing line or a rounding difference is easier to catch now than at BAS time.
- Is GST on the right lines? Mixed bills — some taxable items, some GST-free — are where credits are most often over-claimed.
- Have you seen this bill before? The same supplier and invoice number, sent twice, is the most common duplicate.
- Does the tax rate exist in your ledger? A bill coded to a rate your file doesn't have will need fixing after the fact.
Let FinAiQ do the checking.
Line totals, GST per line and duplicates, on every bill.