Tax treatment (GST treatment)
The code that decides which activity-statement label a transaction feeds.
A tax treatment is a code on a category or transaction that says what kind of supply it is for GST purposes — GST on Income, GST-Free, Input Taxed, GST on Expenses, GST on Capital, Private or BAS Excluded. It is not a rate: it decides both whether GST is inside the price and which label on the activity statement the amount lands on.
Accounting platforms call the same thing a tax rate or tax code. The treatment is set once on the category as a default and can be overridden on any single transaction; it should never be inferred from whether someone typed a GST figure, because a zero GST can mean GST-free, input-taxed or out of scope, and those go to different labels.
Worked example
Three lines on one bank statement: a $12 bank fee (GST-Free Expenses → G11 and G14), $38 of interest received (Input Taxed Income → G1 and G4) and a $2,200 laptop (GST on Capital → G10, with $200 to 1B). Same feed, three labels — the treatment is what tells them apart.
Common mistake
Treating “no GST recorded” as “GST-free”. Interest and residential rent carry no GST but are input-taxed, and reporting them at G3 instead of G4 misstates the return and hides the credits you are not entitled to on related purchases.
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.
GST-free
Sales with no GST where you still claim credits on your purchases.
BAS Excluded (out of scope)
Money that is not a supply and does not appear on the activity statement.
Capital purchase (GST on Capital)
An asset you buy to use over years — G10 on the BAS, then depreciated.
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