Manage Goods and Services Tax (GST) in Australia and New Zealand with Kintsugi
Manage GST in Australia and New Zealand with Kintsugi. Monitor revenue thresholds, submit or import registrations, and collect GST on B2B and B2C SaaS.Updated last month
If you sell into Australia or New Zealand, Kintsugi tracks your turnover against each country's GST registration threshold, helps you register or bring an existing registration across, applies the correct GST rate to your transactions, and prepares your returns. This guide shows you where each of those steps lives in the app and what to do at each one.
Time to read: about 5 minutes. You can complete steps 1 through 3 yourself in a few clicks.
Before you start
A few things determine what you will see in your account:
Monitoring is free. Nexus and exposure monitoring for Australia and New Zealand is available on every plan, including Free. You can watch your turnover approach the threshold without upgrading.
Registrations and filings need a paid plan. Submitting a registration, importing one, and filing returns require a Starter or Premium plan.
Some international jurisdictions need to be switched on. Australia and New Zealand may need to be enabled for your organization by our team, depending on your plan. If you do not see them in your region selector, send us a message in chat and we will sort it out.
Filing needs a local bank account. Kintsugi remits GST from the bank account on file. See Step 6 for what each country accepts.
For the full picture of what is gated behind which plan, see Kintsugi Capabilities at a Glance.
GST at a glance
Here is the shape of each country's GST regime, so you know what Kintsugi is tracking on your behalf.
Australia | New Zealand | |
|---|---|---|
Standard GST rate | 10% | 15% |
Registration threshold | AUD 75,000 in annual turnover | NZD 60,000 in annual turnover |
Tax authority | Australian Taxation Office (ATO) | Inland Revenue (IRD) |
Return | Business Activity Statement (BAS) | GST return |
Account for remittance | Australian bank account in your Australian entity's name | New Zealand bank account matching your NZ entity |
Rates and thresholds are set by each tax authority and can change. Kintsugi keeps track of them for you. The figures above are for orientation and are not tax advice for your specific situation.
What Kintsugi does for Australia and New Zealand
Capability | Australia | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
Monitor turnover against the registration threshold | Yes, on every plan | Yes, on every plan |
Record physical presence | Yes | Yes |
Submit a new registration request | Yes, paid plan | Yes, paid plan |
Import an existing registration | Yes, paid plan | Yes, paid plan |
Deregister | Yes | Yes |
Calculate and collect GST with the tax engine | B2B SaaS and B2C SaaS product categories | B2B SaaS and B2C SaaS product categories |
Prepare, file, and remit returns | Yes, paid plan | Yes, paid plan |
Selling into other countries too? See Kintsugi Global Coverage: Supported Regions and Countries.
Step 1: Check your exposure on the Dashboard
The Exposure Map is the fastest way to see where you stand.
Click Dashboard in the left sidebar.
In the Exposure Map, open the region selector at the top right and choose Australia or New Zealand.
Read the color against the legend below the map.
The Exposure Map legend. These five statuses apply to every country, including Australia and New Zealand.
Status | What it means for you |
|---|---|
Not exposed | Your turnover is well below the threshold. Nothing to do. |
Approaching | You are getting close. This is the moment to plan your registration rather than react to it. |
Exposed | You have crossed the threshold and should register. Move on to Step 4. |
Registering | Your registration request is with us and in progress. |
Registered | You are registered and Kintsugi can collect and file. |
Step 2: Review the detail in Monitoring
Monitoring is the list view behind the map. It shows why you are exposed, when you met the threshold, and how much tax is involved.
Click Monitoring in the left sidebar.
Open the region selector beside the Monitoring heading and choose Australia or New Zealand.
Australia and New Zealand are separate options in the region selector, so pick one at a time. Choose All to see every jurisdiction together.
Use the tabs across the top to switch between Exposed, Not Exposed, Collected Tax Nexus, Registered, and Disregarded.
The Monitoring table. US rows are shown here as an example only; Australia and New Zealand appear in the same columns with the same buttons.
Each row gives you the country, jurisdiction, nexus type, the date you met the threshold, collected tax, tax liability, and current status. The button on the right is your next action: Review to check the details first, or Register to go straight to the request form.
Narrow the list to one country
Click the filter icon at the top right of the Monitoring page.
Under Country, search for and select Australia or New Zealand.
Click Apply.
The Filters panel. Filtering by country is useful when you want one jurisdiction rather than a whole region.
Step 3: Record your physical presence
Turnover is not the only thing that creates an obligation. If you have an office, a warehouse, stored inventory, or people working in Australia or New Zealand, record it so Kintsugi factors it in.
Click Presence in the left sidebar.
Click New at the top right.
Complete the form.
Select Australia or New Zealand under Country, then choose the jurisdiction.
Choose the category.
Set your start date.
Leave the end date blank if the presence is ongoing.
Click Save.
The New Presence form. Another country is shown here as an example; select Australia or New Zealand from the Country list.
Check your dates before you save. Once a presence record exists, you will need to contact support to edit or delete it. Not every category creates an obligation, and the available categories change depending on the country you pick.
For more detail, see How to Add a Physical Presence in Kintsugi.
Step 4: Register, or bring an existing registration across
If you are not registered yet
From Monitoring, find the Australia or New Zealand row and click Register, or Review if you want to check the numbers first. Confirm the details in the Request Registration form and submit. Our Operations team takes it from there, and the status moves to Registering.
Full walkthrough: How to Submit a Registration Request.
If you are already registered
Do not register again. Import what you have so Kintsugi can file against it.
Click Registrations in the left sidebar.
Click Import at the top right.
Complete the form and click Save. Your registration then goes through validation.
Full walkthrough: How To Import Registrations in Kintsugi.
If you stop selling there
You can request deregistration from the Registrations tab. Bear in mind you may still owe a final return, so check your outstanding periods before you deregister.
Step 5: Collecting GST on your sales
Once you are registered, Kintsugi's tax engine applies the correct GST rate to your Australian and New Zealand transactions for B2B SaaS and B2C SaaS product categories.
One thing worth knowing about integrations. A read-only integration imports your transactions so Kintsugi can monitor exposure and prepare filings, but it does not calculate tax at your checkout. To collect GST at the point of sale, you need a tax engine integration or you enable tax collection in the platform itself. See Kintsugi Capabilities at a Glance for which is which.
Step 6: Filing and remittance
On a paid plan, Kintsugi prepares your Australian BAS and your New Zealand GST return, files them, and remits payment from the bank account on your account settings. Before that can happen, the right account needs to be on file.
Country | What Kintsugi needs |
|---|---|
Australia | An Australian bank account in the same name as the Australian entity, able to support government remittances by pre-authorized debit or the equivalent. |
New Zealand | A New Zealand bank account that matches your NZ entity, able to support GST remittance by pre-authorized debit or electronic funds transfer. |
Good news if you are not a US business: you do not need a US entity or a US bank account to use Kintsugi for Australian or New Zealand GST compliance.
Details for every region: Bank Account Requirements for Tax Filings and Remittances.
FAQs
Q: I sell into Australia but I am nowhere near AUD 75,000. Is there anything I should do?
A: Nothing right now. Keep an eye on the Dashboard, and act when the status changes to Approaching. Monitoring runs on every plan, so this costs you nothing.
Q: I already have an ABN and I am registered for GST. Do I need to register again through Kintsugi?
A: No. Import the registration you have instead, using the steps in Step 4. Registering twice creates duplicate accounts with the tax authority.
Q: Can I see Australia and New Zealand at the same time?
A: Yes. Choose All in the region selector rather than one country, then use the country filter if you want to narrow it back down.
Q: Does Kintsugi calculate the GST I pay on my own purchases?
A: No. Kintsugi does not calculate input tax credits. You can enter the figure yourself if you want it reflected in your numbers.
Q: Why is GST not being charged at my checkout?
A: Most likely your integration is read-only, which reports tax rather than collecting it. See Step 5.
Q: Australia or New Zealand is not in my region selector. What now?
A: Some international jurisdictions need to be enabled for your organization. Send us a message in chat and we will get it turned on for you.