You generally don't charge GST to overseas customers. Goods are GST-free exports if they leave Australia within 60 days of the earlier of receiving any payment or issuing the invoice, and services or digital products are GST-free when supplied to a non-resident who isn't in Australia when the work is done. You still claim GST credits on the Australian costs behind those sales, and the sales still count toward the $75,000 registration threshold, so a pure exporter can be required to register while never charging a cent of GST.
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GST-free is the good kind of no-GST.
Exports sit in the best of the three GST buckets. A taxable sale collects 10% for the ATO; an input-taxed sale carries no GST but blocks the credits on its costs; a GST-free sale carries no GST and keeps the credits flowing. Exports are GST-free, so the GST inside your Australian costs (stock, packaging, freight to the port, software subscriptions, the accountant) comes back to you as credits even though nothing was collected on the sale. That's why exporters are one of the few groups whose BAS is routinely a refund rather than a bill, and why registering can be worth it even below the threshold.
Goods: the 60-day rule.
A sale of goods is only a GST-free export if the goods physically leave Australia, and leave on time. The clock is stricter than most people expect:
| The rule | How it works |
|---|---|
| The 60-day clock | Goods must be exported within 60 days of whichever comes first: the day you receive any payment, or the day you issue the invoice |
| Deposits start it | "Any payment" includes a deposit, a 10% deposit in March with shipping planned for June is already a problem |
| Instalment sales | The clock runs from the payment or invoice for the final instalment instead |
| Need longer? | You can ask the ATO for an extension through Online services for business: before the 60 days run out, not after |
| Miss it | The sale stops being GST-free, and since the price was set without GST, the 1/11th you now owe comes out of your margin |
Keep the proof as you go: bill of lading or air waybill, export declaration, and dates that tie the shipment to the sale. "It definitely left the country" is not a document, and export evidence is exactly what the ATO asks for when it reviews a G2 label full of GST-free sales. Buying from overseas runs the opposite way, and GST on imports covers the deferral scheme. If a shipment fits neither page, call us before you lodge.
Services and digital products: where the customer is, not where you are.
For consultants, developers, designers and anyone selling something that doesn't go in a box, the test moves from shipping to geography: a service is generally GST-free when it's supplied to a non-resident who isn't in Australia when the work is done, for use outside Australia. Where you sit doesn't matter, an Australian freelancer invoicing a US company from a desk in Brisbane is making a GST-free supply. The same logic covers digital products sold overseas: software, subscriptions, courses and downloads bought by customers outside Australia go out GST-free, which is why your Shopify store should only be adding GST for Australian checkouts.
Two exceptions stay taxable no matter where the customer lives: work physically performed on goods located in Australia (servicing a machine in an Australian warehouse for its overseas owner), and anything directly connected with Australian real property (managing, valuing or renovating property here). The thing being worked on is in Australia, so the supply is too.
The traps that make an "export" taxable.
Most export GST problems come from three patterns. The Australian delivery. An overseas buyer pays for goods but has them delivered to a relative, a customer or their own office in Australia. That's not an export, because nothing left the country. Charge GST. Handing goods to a freight forwarder or consolidator who ships them out can still qualify, but only if your paperwork traces the goods onto the vessel within the 60 days. The overseas company that's actually here. "Non-resident" and "not in Australia" are both required: a foreign company's Australian branch, or its staff in Australia receiving your training, can pull the supply back into the GST net. When a big invoice turns on it, check where the recipient actually is when the work is done. The forgotten deadline. The deposit-starts-the-clock rule above catches slow shipping schedules constantly; if production or freight will blow the 60 days, ask the ATO for the extension up front rather than repricing the sale later.
The BAS, the threshold and the refund.
GST-free doesn't mean invisible. Export sales are reported on your BAS: in total sales at G1, and again at the G2 export sales label. There's just no GST on them at 1A. They also count in full toward your GST turnover, so an Australian business doing $80,000 a year entirely with overseas customers has crossed the $75,000 threshold and must register, even though its BAS will never show a dollar collected. That's less painful than it sounds: with nothing at 1A and full credits at 1B, registration mostly means the ATO sending money back each quarter. Below the threshold, that same arithmetic is the argument for registering voluntarily. The credits on your Australian costs are only claimable while you're registered.
One direction to keep separate: this guide is about selling out. Buying stock or equipment in from overseas runs on different rails (the border, the $1,000 line and the deferral scheme) covered in our GST on imports guide.
Quick answers.
Do I charge GST to overseas customers?
Generally no. Goods you export from Australia within 60 days of the earlier of receiving any payment or issuing the invoice are GST-free, and services or digital products supplied to a non-resident who isn't in Australia when the work is done are generally GST-free too. The invoice shows no GST, but the sale still goes on your BAS, and it still counts toward the $75,000 registration threshold.
What is the 60-day export rule?
Goods are GST-free as exports only if they leave Australia within 60 days of whichever comes first: the day you receive any payment for them, or the day you issue the invoice. If the goods are paid for by instalments, the clock runs from the payment or invoice for the final instalment. If shipping will take longer, you can ask the ATO for an extension before the 60 days run out: miss the deadline without one and the sale becomes taxable, with the GST coming out of your pocket.
Do GST-free export sales count toward the $75,000 registration threshold?
Yes. GST turnover includes export sales connected with Australia even though they're GST-free. An Australian business making $80,000 a year selling only to overseas customers still has to register for GST: it just lodges BAS full of GST-free sales, and usually collects refunds of the GST on its Australian costs.
Can I claim GST credits on the costs of making export sales?
Yes. This is the crucial difference between GST-free and input-taxed. Exports are GST-free, so the GST on the Australian costs behind them (stock, packaging, freight to the port, software, accounting) is claimable in full on your BAS. Since there's rarely any GST collected on sales to offset those credits, exporters are one of the few groups whose BAS is routinely a refund.
Are digital products and services sold to overseas clients GST-free?
Generally yes. Consulting, design, software, subscriptions and other services are GST-free when supplied to a non-resident who isn't in Australia when the work is done, regardless of where you sit while doing it. The main exceptions: work physically performed on goods located in Australia, and anything directly connected with Australian real property, both of which stay taxable no matter where the customer lives.
My overseas customer wants the goods delivered to someone in Australia: is that still GST-free?
No. What makes an export GST-free is the goods leaving Australia, not the customer's address. Goods invoiced to an overseas buyer but delivered to their relative, customer or office in Australia are an ordinary taxable sale, charge GST. Delivering to a freight forwarder or consolidator who then ships the goods out can still qualify, but only if your documents trace the goods onto the ship or plane within the 60 days.
Should I register for GST if all my sales are exports?
If your GST turnover reaches $75,000 you must register, export sales count even though they're GST-free. Below the threshold it's optional, but often worth doing voluntarily: registration costs you nothing extra on your GST-free sales and unlocks refunds of the GST inside your Australian costs. Our service is $119 + GST if you'd rather have a registered BAS agent review and lodge it, usually confirmed within 4 business hours.
Related guides: GST on imports · GST-free supplies · When to charge GST · Crossing the $75,000 threshold · How GST credits work · GST for Shopify stores · GST on marketplace sales
Selling overseas? Get registered. ~4 business hours.
Reviewed and lodged by Registered BAS Agent 25972850 · $119 + GST, tax deductible · backdating up to 4 years +$25 + GST · free help on 1800 546 526.