What changed in 2023
From 1 April 2023, New Zealand replaced its tax invoice rules with taxable supply information: a set of details that has to exist for each sale, whether it's all on one invoice or spread across an invoice, a contract and a bank statement. For most small businesses nothing changes in practice, because an invoice that met the old rules meets the new ones. Two things went: the words "tax invoice" are no longer compulsory, and credit and debit notes became supply correction information.
What a registered business shows
| Sale amount | What the invoice needs |
|---|---|
| $200 or less | No taxable supply information. Keep your own record of the sale. |
| Over $200, up to $1,000 | Your name or trading name, your GST number, the date, a description of what you supplied, and the amount with the GST shown, or a statement that it includes GST. |
| Over $1,000 | Everything above, plus the buyer's name and one more identifier: their address, phone number, email, trading name, NZBN or website. |
If you're not registered
You don't provide taxable supply information, because there's no GST in the sale. Send a plain invoice with your name, contact details, the date, an invoice number, the customer, what you did, the total and how to pay. Leave off anything that looks like GST, and don't write "Tax Invoice".
The checklist
For a registered business, one invoice with all of this covers every sale, whatever the amount:
- Your name or trading name, and your GST number.
- The date of the invoice or of the sale.
- An invoice number. Inland Revenue doesn't ask for one, but every accountant does.
- The buyer's name, and their address, email or phone number.
- A description of what you supplied, with quantities.
- The amount before GST, the GST and the total, or GST-inclusive prices and the words "includes GST".
- Payment terms and how to pay.
What it looks like
Tax Invoice INV-0112 · Aroha Te Rangi Garden Design · GST No. 123-456-789
Date 26 September 2026 · Due 10 October 2026
Bill to: Harbour View Developments Ltd, 14 Wharf Street, Tauranga
| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Landscape plan, stage one | 1 | $1,800.00 | $1,800.00 |
| Site visits | 2 | $150.00 | $300.00 |
| Subtotal | $2,100.00 | ||
| GST 15% | $315.00 | ||
| Total | $2,415.00 |
It's over $1,000, so the buyer's name and address are on it. Under $1,000 they could be left off.
Corrections, buyers and records
- Mistakes: don't edit or delete an invoice you've sent. Issue supply correction information, the new name for a credit or debit note, showing what changed and the corrected GST.
- Buyer-created information: if you and a GST-registered customer agree, they can create the taxable supply information for what you sell them. It's common with large buyers.
- On request: a GST-registered customer can ask for taxable supply information for any sale over $200, and you have 28 days to provide it.
- Records: keep sales and purchase records for seven years.