GST turnover is your gross business income, not your profit: everything your enterprise earns from its sales, minus a short exclusion list. Out: the GST already in your prices, input-taxed sales such as residential rent and interest, sales not connected with Australia, sales not for payment, and money that isn't from an enterprise at all, like wages from a job or a hobby. Still in: GST-free sales, so exporters and fresh-food sellers count every dollar even though it carries no GST. The ATO tests the figure through two rolling 12-month windows at once: current GST turnover is this month plus the previous 11, projected GST turnover is this month plus the next 11, and when either reaches $75,000 ($150,000 for not-for-profits) you have 21 days to register. The projected figure also ignores one-off sales of capital assets, so selling the ute never pushes you over the threshold by itself.
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Gross income, not profit: what the definition actually says
GST turnover starts from the biggest number in your books, not the smallest. It is the gross income of your enterprise: every invoice, every till total, every fee, before fuel, stock, rent, software or a single other expense comes out. A courier grossing $80,000 and keeping $45,000 after costs is over the threshold. A consultant billing $76,000 with $30,000 of subcontractor costs is over the threshold. Profit, taxable income and "what I actually saw" are different numbers for different laws, and none of them is this one.
From that gross figure the ATO's list takes out only five things: the GST included in your prices (the test is GST-exclusive, so $82,500 of GST-inclusive sales is $75,000 of turnover), sales not for payment that aren't taxable, sales not connected with an enterprise you run (your salary from a job, a genuine hobby, selling your own couch), input-taxed sales (residential rent and most financial supplies, like interest), and sales not connected with Australia. Everything else stays in, and the word "else" is doing real work: GST-free sales still count. A market gardener moving $90,000 of GST-free vegetables, a medical practice billing $200,000 of GST-free consultations, an exporter whose every sale leaves the country GST-free: all of them are over the registration threshold, because GST-free is a 0% rate on a sale the enterprise still made, while input-taxed is the category the definition actually removes.
Current and projected: the two 12-month windows
You never test a financial year. You test two rolling windows, every month, and registration becomes compulsory when either one reaches the threshold. Current GST turnover is this month plus the previous 11: the looking-back window that catches steady growth creeping past $75,000 mid-year. Projected GST turnover is this month plus the next 11: the looking-forward window that catches the leap, and it is why a brand-new business can be over the threshold on day one. Sign a $90,000 contract in your first week and your projected turnover crossed $75,000 the day you signed; the 21-day clock runs from that realisation, not from when the cash arrives.
The forward window also forgives, in two ways. First, if your past 12 months crossed $75,000 but the next 12 clearly won't (you've dropped a client, cut your days, wound the business back), you don't have to register, because the test the ATO applies to the backward crossing is whether the forward figure is also likely to be under. Second, projected turnover excludes one-off asset sales: the proceeds of selling a capital asset (the ute, a machine, the premises) and sales made solely because you're closing down or substantially and permanently downsizing never count toward it. A $70,000 year plus a $20,000 ute sale is a $70,000 turnover. The threshold calculator runs the rolling arithmetic for you month by month, and if you've already crossed, backdating your registration deliberately beats the ATO doing it to you.
What counts and what doesn't
| The money | In your GST turnover? |
|---|---|
| Taxable sales: your ordinary invoices and till takings | Yes, GST-exclusive |
| GST-free sales: exports, most fresh food, many health and education services | Yes: a 0% rate, but still your enterprise's sale |
| Input-taxed sales: residential rent, interest and most financial supplies | No |
| The GST in a registered business's prices | No: divide inclusive totals by 1.1 first |
| Wages from employment, a genuine hobby, selling private belongings | No: not enterprise income |
| Sales not connected with Australia | No |
| Selling a capital asset: vehicle, machinery, premises | Out of projected turnover: a one-off sale never forces registration |
| Sales made solely because you're ceasing or permanently downsizing | Out of projected turnover |
Two of those rows do most of the damage in practice. People leave GST-free sales out when they should be in, and discover the miss only when the ATO's data-matching finds a $100,000 enterprise with no registration. And people leave employment income in when it should be out, and register a $10,000 side business because a $70,000 salary sits next to it in the same bank account. The enterprise is measured on its own: a full-time job changes nothing about whether your weekend business needs to register, as our guide for tradies and subcontractors works through for the most common case.
One figure, several thresholds (and the aggregated turnover trap)
Registration is only the first line GST turnover draws. At $75,000 ($150,000 for a not-for-profit, and no threshold at all for taxi and rideshare) registration becomes compulsory. Under $10 million, you report on Simpler BAS by default: fewer labels on the BAS you lodge. At $20 million or more, quarterly reporting stops being an option: you must report GST monthly and lodge electronically. The same figure drives smaller doors too, like the $2 million GST turnover limit for non-business entities paying GST by instalments.
Don't confuse any of that with aggregated turnover, which is an income-tax concept: your annual turnover plus every entity connected or affiliated with you, used for small business concessions and for GST choices like accounting on a cash basis (under $10 million aggregated) and the business gateway into instalments. GST turnover is yours alone; aggregated turnover drags your group in with you. A subsidiary with $60,000 of its own sales has no GST registration obligation, while the same subsidiary can fail the $10 million aggregated test because of its parent. One name, one word apart, two different laws.
Quick answers
Is GST turnover worked out on gross income or profit?
Gross income. GST turnover is everything your enterprise earns from its sales before a single expense comes out, so a courier grossing $80,000 who nets $45,000 after fuel, insurance and tolls is over the $75,000 threshold, not under it. Profit never enters the calculation: the only things that come out are the ATO's specific exclusions, such as input-taxed sales, sales not connected with Australia and amounts that aren't enterprise income at all.
Does the $75,000 GST turnover figure include GST?
No. GST turnover is measured excluding any GST in your prices. For an unregistered business deciding whether it must register there's usually no GST in the prices anyway, so gross takings are the figure. For a registered business checking a different threshold, divide the GST-inclusive total by 1.1 first: $82,500 of GST-inclusive sales is a GST turnover of $75,000.
Do GST-free sales count toward GST turnover?
Yes, and this is the trap that catches exporters, fresh-food sellers and health practitioners. GST-free means you charge 0% on the sale, but the sale is still your enterprise's turnover, so a market gardener selling $90,000 of GST-free vegetables must still register. What stays out is the input-taxed category: residential rent, and financial supplies like interest. If most of your income is GST-free, registering usually works in your favour, because you claim GST credits on your costs while charging nothing extra on your sales.
What is the difference between current and projected GST turnover?
Current GST turnover is this month plus the previous 11 months. Projected GST turnover is this month plus the next 11 months. You must register within 21 days once either reaches $75,000, so a new business signing a big contract can be over the threshold on day one with no sales history at all. The windows roll every month: this is not a financial-year test, and you can cross in February as easily as in July.
Does selling the ute or other business equipment count toward GST turnover?
No. Projected GST turnover specifically excludes amounts from selling capital assets, along with sales made solely because you're closing or substantially and permanently downsizing the enterprise. The ATO's guidance on disposing of capital assets is explicit that you don't have to register just because the proceeds of an asset sale would carry you over the threshold. A $70,000 year plus a $20,000 ute sale is still under the line.
Is GST turnover the same as aggregated turnover?
No, and mixing them up is a common bookkeeping error. GST turnover is a GST-law concept: your own enterprise's gross income, minus the GST exclusions, tested on rolling 12-month windows. Aggregated turnover is an income-tax concept: your annual turnover plus the annual turnover of every entity connected or affiliated with you, used for small business concessions and for choices like cash-basis GST accounting and GST instalments. A company in a group can sit under $75,000 of GST turnover while the group's aggregated turnover runs into the millions.
Do wages from my job, hobby income or private sales count toward GST turnover?
No. GST turnover counts only what your enterprise earns. Salary or wages from employment are not enterprise income, a genuine hobby is not an enterprise, and selling your own private belongings, like a personal car or furniture, is not either. A full-time employee on $70,000 with a $10,000 side business has a GST turnover of $10,000, not $80,000. The side business is measured on its own.
My GST turnover is over $75,000: what now?
You have 21 days from the day you reached it, or realised your projected turnover would reach it, to register. Registering late means the ATO can backdate you and treat the interim sales as GST-inclusive, taking 1/11 of money you never collected as GST. Registering is free through the ATO's own online services; our BAS-agent service is $119 + GST if you'd rather have it reviewed and lodged for you, usually within 24 hours, with backdating up to 4 years +$25 + GST.
Related guides: Crossing the $75,000 threshold · Do I need to register for GST? · GST threshold calculator · Non-taxable and GST-free supplies · GST for not-for-profits · Backdating your GST registration · Cash vs accrual GST
Added it up and you're over $75,000? Registered in ~24 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.