You'll need to make sure you've correctly calculated your GST before filing your return. Most people file their GST return in myIR which does the calculations for you. If you file a paper return the form tells you what calculations to make.
Regardless of how you file you need to work out your total:
- sales and income
- zero-rated supplies
- debit adjustments
- purchases and expenses
- credit adjustments
Sales and income
The way you work out your total sales and income depends on the accounting basis you use.
| You use the invoice or hybrid basis | You use the payments basis |
|---|---|
In your GST return for the period include:
|
In your GST return for the period include:
|
Zero-rated supplies
Add up all your zero-rated supplies for the taxable period.
Debit adjustments
Add up all your debit adjustments for the taxable period.
Purchases and expenses
The way you work out your total purchases and expenses depends on the accounting basis you use.
| You use the invoice basis | You use the payments or hybrid basis |
|---|---|
In your GST return for the period include:
|
In your GST return for the period include:
|
Find out more about taxable supply information.
How taxable supply information for GST works
You can only claim part of the GST charged on a purchase that will only partly be used in your business.
GST adjustments for business, private and exempt use
Credit adjustments
Add up all your credit adjustments for the taxable period.
Using the GST rate
myIR will tell you how much GST you have to pay or will be refunded. If you file a paper return, the form tells you what calculations to make.
You can find examples of how to use the GST rate calculations below.
Hine sells headphones for $100 not including GST. They need to work out how much GST to add to the price. The rate of GST is 15%, so they multiply the $100 price by 0.15 and get $15. Hine can add $15 to the original $100 price. The total price is $115 including GST.
Arthur needs to know what the price of the headphones was before Hine added GST. Arthur takes the total price with GST, $115, and multiplies it by 3. They divide that total by 23 and get $15. This is the GST part of the total price. Arthur takes away the GST amount, $15, from the total price, $115, and gets $100. The original price was $100 not including GST.