GST Tax Invoice Requirements in New Zealand, with a Template

In New Zealand, the information a GST-registered business gives about a sale is called taxable supply information (TSI). GST-registered buyers need it to claim back the GST they paid.

Whether you run a local brick-and-mortar business or an online store on Shopify, understanding New Zealand's taxable supply information thresholds and credit note rules is essential. If your business also sells to Australian buyers, see our guide on tax invoice requirements in Australia with a template.

If a GST-registered buyer asks for taxable supply information on a supply over $200, you must give it to them within 28 days of the request, or by another date you both agree.

What the information must show depends on the value of the supply. Inland Revenue sets three bands:

• $200 or less: your name or trade name, the date, a description of the goods or services, and the amount paid. No GST number or buyer details are needed.
• Over $200 up to $1,000: your name or trade name and GST number, the date, a description, and either the GST-exclusive amount, the GST and the GST-inclusive total, or the GST-inclusive total with a statement that it includes GST (when every item is taxed at the standard rate).
• Over $1,000: everything in the band above, plus the buyer's name and at least one identifier, such as their address, phone number, email, trading name, NZ Business Number or website.

New Zealand has no e-invoicing mandate for sales to businesses or consumers. The only mandate scheduled applies to large suppliers to central government agencies, from 2027.

Check Inland Revenue's guidance before relying on any template, including ours.

When a supply is cancelled, returned, or partially refunded, the GST amount originally charged changes. In New Zealand, businesses issue a credit note to record the adjusted GST.

In an e-commerce context, where returns and customer refunds occur frequently, clear credit notes keep your records and GST returns consistent with what you actually charged.

In addition to invoicing rules, businesses selling to New Zealand consumers must comply with Fair Trading pricing standards:

• Prices must include or be clear about GST: Commerce Commission guidance states that prices displayed to consumers must include or be clear about the 15% Goods and Services Tax (GST).
• Shelf price matches checkout: Consumers have a reasonable expectation that the price shown on product and collection pages is the price charged at checkout, with any surcharges declared before purchase.
• Fine print guidance: Displaying "GST extra" in fine print is unlikely to prevent consumers from being misled.

Below is a copy-ready plain-text template for supplies over $200. It also includes the buyer details needed over $1,000:

TAX INVOICE

Supplier: [Your Registered Business Name]
GST Number: [XX-XXX-XXX]
Date: [DD/MM/YYYY]
Invoice Reference: [INV-0001]

Recipient: [Customer Name / Business Name]
Recipient Contact: [Address, phone, email, NZBN or website]
* Recipient name and one contact detail needed over $1,000.

Line Items:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Description of Goods / Services       Qty  Unit (inc GST)  Total (inc GST)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Product / Service Description 1]       2       NZ$115.00        NZ$230.00
[Product / Service Description 2]       1        NZ$57.50         NZ$57.50
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subtotal (excluding GST):                                        NZ$250.00
GST (15%):                                                        NZ$37.50
Total Amount Payable (including GST):                            NZ$287.50

For merchants running New Zealand stores on Shopify, the official Shopify documentation highlights several important gaps:

• Tax is the merchant's responsibility: Shopify's documentation states: "Tax is your responsibility." Shopify does not file or pay your GST for you.
• Basic Tax in New Zealand: New Zealand stores use Shopify's Basic Tax service. While you can input your tax registration number and establish shipping zones, Basic Tax lacks advanced capabilities like category-specific overrides or tax holidays.
• Tax-inclusive setting: Shopify includes a setting at Settings > Taxes and duties to "Include sales tax in product price and shipping rate", which should be enabled for New Zealand retail.
• Shopify Order Printer: Shopify offers the Order Printer app for printing documents. However, Shopify's documentation does not say whether Order Printer templates meet New Zealand taxable supply information requirements, so check any template against Inland Revenue's guidance.
• No native NZ invoice or credit note feature: Shopify's only documented native invoice feature is "VAT invoices", which is restricted exclusively to the EU and UK. Shopify documents no native invoice or credit note feature for New Zealand.

If you want to review your storefront speed, checkout conversion barriers, app footprint, and GST setup, see our fixed-price Shopify store audit.

Because Shopify provides no native New Zealand invoice or credit note functionality, merchants need another way to produce these documents.

So we built NullGlitch Tax Invoices. Live on the Shopify App Store, it creates New Zealand GST tax invoices and credit notes from your Shopify orders, matching what Shopify charged to the cent, and covers Australian invoices and adjustment notes too. It costs US$8 a month with a 7-day free trial.