GST-free
Sales with no GST where you still claim credits on your purchases.
A GST-free sale is a supply you make without charging GST while keeping the right to claim GST credits on what you bought to make it. Basic food, most health and education services, and exports are the usual examples. On the BAS, GST-free sales are reported at G1 and G3 (exports at G2); purchases with no GST in the price go to G11 and G14.
GST-free is a real sale or purchase that happens to carry no GST, and it still has to be reported — which is what separates it from BAS Excluded, where the money is not a supply at all. It is also distinct from input-taxed: both have zero GST on the sale, but only GST-free keeps your credits.
Worked example
A physiotherapist bills $150 for a treatment, which is GST-free. It is reported at G1 and G3, so no GST is owed on it. The $66 of clinic supplies bought that month carried $6 of GST, and because the treatment is GST-free rather than input-taxed, that $6 is still claimable at 1B.
Common mistake
Putting a bank fee under GST-free income logic and claiming a credit. A bank fee is a purchase with no GST in the price — G11 and G14 — and there is nothing to claim on it, however it is labelled.
Grounded in ATO guidance. Figures last checked . General information, not tax advice.
Related terms
Input taxed
Sales with no GST that also deny credits on related purchases.
Tax treatment (GST treatment)
The code that decides which activity-statement label a transaction feeds.
BAS Excluded (out of scope)
Money that is not a supply and does not appear on the activity statement.
GST (Goods and Services Tax)
Australia’s flat 10% tax on most goods and services.
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