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Australian GST-registered businesses should keep evidence linking each input tax credit claim to the acquisition, the GST charged or paid, its business purpose, any apportionment or adjustment, and the amount reported on the BAS. A tax invoice is generally required by the time you lodge the BAS for a creditable acquisition worth more than $75 excluding GST, subject to exceptions. For taxable imports, keep Department of Home Affairs documents showing GST paid instead. Retain records for at least five years from the later relevant start point, and longer when the applicable review period requires it.
What records do I need to keep for GST credits?
Keep a traceable file for each acquisition included in an input tax credit claim. The records should let you or the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) follow the transaction from source evidence through to the GST amount claimed. ATO guidance says records should show the income and expenses used to calculate and support amounts reported and claimed for GST credits; inadequate evidence can lead to claims being adjusted or denied. ATO: Records required for GST.
- Purchase evidence: supplier tax invoices and other transaction records identifying what was acquired, its price, and the GST relevant to the credit.
- Related transaction records: records of relevant purchases, fees, expenses, costs, and GST-related transactions used to calculate or support reported amounts.
- Business purpose: information showing how the acquisition relates to the business, particularly where the business-use connection may not be obvious from the invoice alone.
- Calculations and adjustments: workings and supporting documents explaining how you calculated a credit or adjustment and how you arrived at the amount reported.
- BAS connection: a way to identify which transaction and GST figure contributed to the relevant reported amount.
The point is not to collect paperwork for its own sake: retain enough evidence to explain the claim and reproduce its calculation.
Do I need a tax invoice to claim GST?
Generally, you must hold a tax invoice when lodging your BAS to claim a creditable acquisition whose GST-exclusive value is more than $75. The ATO’s GSTR 2000/10 describes an exception for acquisitions of $75 or less. Because invoice requirements can have exceptions and may change, check current ATO guidance and the rules applying to your transaction before relying on the threshold. ATO: GSTR 2000/10.
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Keep the invoice with the records that explain the acquisition and any allocation or calculation. An invoice supports the transaction and GST charged; it may not, by itself, explain a mixed business and private use allocation or a later adjustment.
What records do I need for GST on imports?
For taxable imports, a tax invoice is not required to claim the GST credit. Retain Department of Home Affairs documents showing the GST paid, along with records connecting the import to the business and the amount claimed. ATO: Records required for GST.
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How should I document business and private use?
If an acquisition is used partly for business and partly for private or other purposes, keep the allocation method, its details, and the basis for using it. The method should be fair and reasonable. Your file should preserve enough information to explain how you separated the creditable business-use portion from the rest, rather than retaining only the final percentage or BAS figure. ATO: GSTR 2006/4.
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The ATO’s general guidance is to keep records for five years, measured from the later of when the record was prepared or obtained and when the related transaction or act was completed. This is not a universal maximum: records may need to be kept longer to cover the relevant period of review. GSTR 2006/4 discusses longer retention outcomes for relevant records made after 1 July 2012 where a period of review extends beyond five years, including a refreshed period after an amended assessment. Apply the rule to the particular transaction and assessment rather than assigning every file the same disposal date. ATO: Records required for GST; ATO: GSTR 2006/4.
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Can I keep records electronically?
ATO business recordkeeping guidance contemplates both paper and electronic records. Records should explain the transactions and be in English or readily translatable. Accounting software may help produce invoices, summaries, and GST reports, but those outputs do not remove the need to retain adequate underlying evidence. ATO: Record keeping for business.
Choose a paper or digital workflow that makes it practical to retrieve the evidence and follow each transaction into its calculation and BAS reporting. For digital files, consider searchability, reliable backups, access controls, exportability, and the ability to retain source documents alongside accounting entries. The ATO guidance permits formats; it does not rank particular systems.
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Special case: ride-sourcing enterprises
The ATO flags additional recordkeeping requirements for ride-sourcing enterprises. The general GST records checklist above does not set out those extra requirements; affected businesses should consult the ATO’s dedicated sharing-economy guidance rather than assume the general checklist covers every obligation. ATO: Sharing economy and tax.
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