Running a Shopify store, an Amazon FBA business, or an eBay or Etsy shop does not come with special GST rules of its own. The same $75,000 registration threshold applies as it would to any other business. Where e-commerce sellers actually get tripped up is in a handful of marketplace-specific quirks, particularly around exports and what Amazon does and does not handle on your behalf.
You need to register for GST once your turnover reaches $75,000. This is a rolling 12-month test, not a financial year test, and it is triggered if either your turnover for the current month plus the previous 11 months reaches $75,000, or your turnover for the current month plus the next 11 months is projected to reach it. Once you cross the threshold, you have 21 days to register. This applies equally whether you sell through Shopify, Amazon, eBay or Etsy. There is no e-commerce-specific carve-out.
Sales to Australian customers carry 10% GST as normal. Goods physically exported from Australia are GST-free, but only if they are shipped within 60 days of receiving payment or issuing the invoice, whichever happens first. For Amazon FBA sellers shipping internationally from Australian-based stock, this matters: you need documentation proving the goods left the country within that window to support a GST-free claim. Miss the 60-day window and the export treatment does not automatically apply.
This is the single most common point of confusion for Amazon sellers. Amazon collects and remits GST on Low Value Imported Goods, meaning goods under $1,000 shipped from overseas, in two situations: Amazon Global Store sales, and third-party sellers shipping stock into Australia from outside the country. That is separate and distinct from your own GST obligations as an Australian-resident, GST-registered seller on your own domestic sales. Seeing "GST collected by Amazon" on a cross-border order does not mean your business is exempt from registering and reporting GST on the sales you make within Australia. Under the ATO's rules for electronic distribution platforms, responsibility can shift to you as the merchant where you are named as supplier on the invoice and you control the sale terms.
Once registered, you can claim GST credits on business expenses that carried GST, including Amazon referral and FBA fulfilment fees, eBay and Etsy fees, your Shopify subscription, advertising, packaging and freight, provided the supplier actually charged Australian GST. This is worth checking carefully, because many overseas platform invoices, including some Amazon and advertising platform fees, carry no Australian GST component at all, so there is nothing to claim on those specific line items even though the business itself is GST-registered.
Most small e-commerce sellers report quarterly, which is the default cycle. If your turnover is under $10 million, Simpler BAS applies, meaning you only report total sales, GST on sales and GST on purchases, without the fuller reporting worksheet larger businesses use.
Approaching the $75,000 threshold, or not sure whether your Amazon or Shopify GST is being handled correctly? Book a free call and we will walk through your numbers with you.
Registering late. The ATO can backdate your GST liability to when you should have registered, meaning GST owed on past sales you never actually collected from customers.
Assuming overseas sales are automatically GST-free. The 60-day export window has to be met and documented, not just assumed.
Confusing Amazon's LVIG collection with your own obligations. Amazon collecting GST on cross-border consumer orders does not replace your own registration and reporting duties as an Australian business.
Claiming credits on fees that never had GST applied. Many international platform and advertising invoices are GST-free, so check before assuming a credit is available.
E-commerce sellers follow the same $75,000 GST threshold as any other business, tracked on a rolling 12-month basis. Exports are GST-free only within a 60-day shipping window, and Amazon's handling of GST on cross-border low-value goods is separate from your own registration obligations as an Australian seller. Get the marketplace-specific details right and the rest is standard GST reporting.
We help online sellers get GST registration, BAS reporting and marketplace fee reconciliation right, with fixed fees agreed upfront. Book your free call here.
This article is general information only and does not take into account your personal circumstances. Please seek advice tailored to your situation before acting.
.png)
