An Australian creator in business must register for GST within 21 days once GST turnover, meaning gross business income from every platform, brand deal and non-cash payment rather than profit, reaches $75,000 across the current month and the previous 11, or is likely to across the current month and the next 11, under the ATO's registration rules. GST-free income, such as payments from foreign advertising networks, still counts towards that test. Once registered, you charge GST on taxable sales including local brand deals, claim credits on business purchases and lodge business activity statements.
How the ATO measures GST turnover
The ATO's Registering for GST page defines GST turnover as total business income, not profit, minus GST included in your sales, unpaid non-taxable sales to associates, sales not connected with an enterprise you run, input-taxed sales and sales not connected with Australia. You reach the threshold if current turnover, the current month plus the previous 11, totals $75,000 or more, or if projected turnover, the current month plus the next 11, is likely to. A new business that expects to reach the threshold in its first year must register from the start. When projecting, leave out the sale of a capital asset and anything sold only because you are winding down or shrinking the business; and even with current turnover over the line, you need not register if the ATO is satisfied the projection will stay under it.
Two inclusions surprise creators. The ATO's page on exports and GST says export sales connected with Australia count even though they are GST-free, and its example of an online seller with $50,000 of local and $50,000 of overseas sales lands at $100,000 of turnover and a duty to register. The ATO's barter page adds that non-cash deals count as well: $60,000 of cash sales plus $20,000 of barter meets the threshold in its example.
Missing the date is expensive. The registration page warns that if you were required to register and did not, you may have to pay GST on sales made since the date you should have registered, even though you never charged it, plus penalties and interest. Backdating a registration is limited to 4 years unless there is fraud or evasion, according to the ATO's section on backdating.
GST turnover worksheet: current and projected
Complete one copy at the end of each month. The ATO suggests checking every month while you are unregistered, and a monthly sheet turns the rolling totals into a matter of adding rows rather than reconstructing a year in a hurry.
| Line | What to enter | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| A | This month's platform earnings across every platform, in Australian dollars, on the gross or net basis agreed with your adviser | Platform statements and your conversion record |
| B | Brand deals, sponsorships, appearance fees and paid content invoiced this month | Your invoice register |
| C | Market value of products, trips or services received instead of money | Non-cash income log |
| D | Affiliate commissions, digital product sales and merchandise | Affiliate dashboards and shop reports |
| E | Less any GST included in your sales, once you are registered | Your BAS workings |
| F | Less input-taxed sales and sales not connected with Australia | Confirm with an adviser before using this line |
| G | Month total: A plus B plus C plus D, minus E and F | Your sheet |
| H | Current GST turnover: G plus the totals for the previous 11 months | ATO turnover rules |
| I | Projected GST turnover: G plus your forecast for the next 11 months, leaving out equipment sales and winding-down sales | ATO projection rules |
| J | If H or I reaches $75,000, you have 21 days to register | ATO threshold |
Lines A to D are the figures our earnings tracker template already separates by source, so the worksheet can be filled straight from it. Keep each month's sheet with the statements behind it.
Income-source classification
Whether a sale carries GST once you are registered depends on who receives the supply and where. Every row below counts towards turnover; what changes is whether you charge GST on it. Treat each starting point as a question to confirm, not an answer.
| Income source | ATO starting point | Confirm with adviser |
|---|---|---|
| Local brand deal or sponsorship from an Australian business | Taxable once you are registered; the ATO creator guide names local brand deals and sponsorships | Only that your invoices show GST correctly |
| Ad revenue under an agreement with a foreign advertising network | GST-free sales, according to the same creator guide | Yes: which entity your agreement is actually with |
| Ad revenue from a platform run by an Australian entity | Taxable, as in the registration page example of a creator paid by an Australian platform operator | Yes: check the contracting party named in the terms |
| Subscriptions and pay-per-view on a platform that facilitates sales between you and fans | Offshore subscribers GST-free, subscribers in Australia taxable, and all sales taxable if locations are unknown, per the exports page | Yes: what location data your platform gives you |
| Tips and paid messages from fans on that kind of platform | Treated with subscriptions in the same ATO example | Yes: the same location question applies |
| Overseas brand paying for content it uses outside Australia | Generally GST-free when the recipient is outside Australia and uses the service there | Yes, especially if anything is delivered to someone in Australia |
| Products, trips or services received for promotion | Same GST treatment as a cash sale, per the barter page | Yes: how you value each item |
| Selling a used camera or other business asset | Left out of projected turnover on the registration page | Yes: whether GST applies to the sale itself |
Platform terms, gross versus net, and the indirect tax line
Read your platform's creator terms before filling in line A. OnlyFans' contract between fan and creator names the fan and the creator as the only parties to each subscription or purchase, defines its fee as 20% of all fan payments charged to creators, and says fans pay the fan payment plus any indirect sales tax that the company is authorised to collect.
Each of those points raises a question for your adviser. If the full fan payment is your sale, the platform's fee is a cost of yours and line A starts from the gross figure; if your income is only the share credited to you, the figure is smaller. Because GST turnover counts business income rather than profit, the two readings can put you on different sides of the threshold in the same year. And a platform collecting indirect tax from fans does not, by itself, tell you whether your own GST obligation on sales to Australian subscribers has been met. Our worked explanation of gross versus net creator revenue shows how the two bases diverge in practice.
Registering, invoicing and lodging BAS
You need an ABN before you can register, and you can then register through Online services for business, by phone or through a registered tax or BAS agent; the registration page adds that if you register voluntarily, you generally must stay registered for at least 12 months. If you still need the ABN, start with our guide to ABN entitlement for creators.
Once registered, brands will ask for tax invoices. The ATO's tax invoice rules say you must provide one within 28 days of a request unless the sale is $82.50 including GST or less; an invoice for a sale under $1,000 must show 7 details, including that it is a tax invoice, your identity and ABN, the date, a description with price, the GST amount and the extent each item is taxable, and sales of $1,000 or more also need the buyer's identity or ABN.
- Quarterly BAS. The usual cycle for registered businesses under $20 million of GST turnover, due 28 October, 28 February, 28 April and 28 July on the ATO's BAS calendar, with an extra 2 weeks possible for online lodgers except in the October to December quarter.
- Annual GST return. Listed on the same due dates page, available if you registered voluntarily and your GST turnover is under $75,000, with lodgment and payment due 31 October.
- Monthly BAS. Compulsory if the ATO directs it or turnover is very large, and optional otherwise if smaller payments suit your cash flow better.
- GST credits. Claim the GST in business purchases on your BAS, and leave that GST out of your income tax deductions, as the ATO's deduction rules require.
Where official pages pull in different directions
- Over, or at least? The ATO's creator guide tells creators to register if they are making over $75,000 annually, while the registration page sets the test at $75,000 or more, measured monthly on current and projected figures. The creator guide is a summary; the registration page is where the ATO sets out the test in detail, so work from that.
- Digital platforms and the threshold. The registration page lists earning income through the sharing economy or digital platforms among the cases where you must register, without mentioning turnover, but the ATO's page on GST when providing services through a platform ties registration to GST turnover of $75,000 or more, and ride-sourcing is the activity the ATO singles out for registration regardless of income. Ask the ATO or your agent how the broader wording applies before you rely on either reading.
- Which ad revenue is GST-free? The creator guide treats payments from foreign advertising networks as GST-free, while the registration page's example treats ad revenue from an Australian platform operator as taxable. The entity named in your agreement decides which example you resemble.
Limitations of this GST guide
GST outcomes turn on contracts, on who receives each supply and where, and on facts that general guidance cannot see, so this page offers starting points rather than answers. It reflects ATO and platform pages checked on 1 October 2026 and assumes an Australian sole trader; GST groups, companies and non-resident rules are out of scope. A registered tax or BAS agent can classify your income streams and prepare your activity statements, and you can check their registration on the Tax Practitioners Board register. For the rest of the picture, including income tax and records, return to the Australian OnlyFans tax overview, and for advertising income paid by Google, see our YouTube tax guide for Australians.