FoderisStripe fees and GST in Australia: how to claim the credit
If you take payments through Stripe as an Australian business, every fee Stripe deducts includes GST. That GST is usually claimable. But many small businesses miss it, because they only ever record the payout that lands in the bank. This guide explains how Stripe charges GST on fees, how to claim the credit on your BAS, and how to set up your books so the numbers are right.
In short
- Stripe applies GST to its fees for Australian account holders at the standard 10% rate.
- If you’re registered for GST and the fees are for your business, you can generally claim that GST as a credit at 1B on your BAS.
- Stripe issues a monthly tax invoice for its fees. Download it and keep it with your records.
- Record each sale at its full (gross) amount and the Stripe fee as a separate expense. Recording only the net payout understates both your sales and your fees.
- Use Stripe’s reports to get the fee totals for each BAS period.
How Stripe charges GST on fees
Stripe’s help centre says that for Australian account holders, GST applies to all Stripe fees at the standard rate. Stripe’s Australian pricing page states that its listed fees include GST. The help article adds that GST is applied on top of fees unless you have agreed GST-inclusive pricing, so if you’re on custom pricing, check your agreement.
Either way, the practical result is the same: part of every fee is GST, and Stripe gives you a monthly tax invoice showing it.
Fees that carry GST include the processing fee on each payment, currency conversion fees, dispute fees, and fees for extra products such as Billing or Tax. Stripe’s pricing page lists the dispute fee at A$25.00 per dispute received, and notes that processing fees on the original payment are not returned when you refund it.
Claiming the GST credit on Stripe fees
The ATO says you can claim a GST credit when, among other things:
- you’re registered for GST
- the purchase is for your business
- the price included GST
- you have a tax invoice for purchases over A$82.50 (including GST).
Your monthly Stripe fees will often add up to more than A$82.50, so the monthly tax invoice matters. Download it each month rather than relying on fee lines in a payout report.
The GST on fees goes into 1B GST on purchases on your BAS. If you’re on the cash basis, claim it in the period the fees were paid. With Stripe, fees are taken out of each payment as it happens, so the fee is paid when the charge is processed. If you use the accrual basis, the timing usually lines up the same way. Check with your accountant if your situation is unusual.
The ATO also allows a credit to be claimed for up to four years, so if you have missed GST on Stripe fees in past periods, it may not be too late. Ask your accountant how to include them.
Why record gross sales, not just the payout
The simplest way to “do the books” for Stripe is to record each bank deposit as a sale. It is also wrong, in three ways.
- Your sales are understated. G1 on your BAS should show your full sales, not sales after fees.
- Your GST on sales can be wrong. GST on a sale is one eleventh of what the customer paid, not of what you received after fees.
- You lose the GST credit on fees. If the fee never appears in your books, you never claim the GST in it.
Payouts also mix many things together: several days of sales, refunds, disputes and fees. A single deposit tells you almost nothing about what happened. For the bookkeeping side of this, see our guide on how to record Stripe payouts.
Worked example
A customer in Sydney pays A$110.00 for a subscription. The amount includes GST. For the example, say Stripe’s fee on this payment is A$2.12 including GST. (Use your own fees from Stripe’s reports; rates vary by card type and pricing plan.)
Recording only the payout:
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sales | 107.88 |
| GST on sales (107.88 ÷ 11) | 9.81 |
Recording gross sales and fees:
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sales, including GST | 110.00 |
| GST on sales (110.00 ÷ 11) | 10.00 |
| Stripe fee, including GST | 2.12 |
| GST credit on fee (2.12 ÷ 11) | 0.19 |
| Net received from Stripe | 107.88 |
The first approach reports A$0.19 less GST on sales than it should, and claims no credit on the fee. The second reports the right GST on the sale and claims the GST in the fee. Over a quarter with thousands of payments, the difference adds up, and the first approach also leaves your sales figure wrong.
Rounding note: per-transaction GST on fees can differ by a few cents from the total on Stripe’s monthly tax invoice. Many businesses use the tax invoice total for the GST credit and treat the invoice as the source of truth.
Where to find Stripe’s tax invoices and fee reports
Monthly tax invoices
Stripe’s help article on downloading tax invoices for Stripe fees says they are in the Dashboard under Settings, then Plans and fees, then Invoice history. Invoices are available by the 10th of the following month. Stripe won’t issue one if your business details are incomplete or no tax applied to your activity that month, so check your legal entity address and ABN details in your Stripe settings.
Stripe also notes that tax invoices are based on the transaction’s created date in UTC, so a refund or dispute can land on a different month’s invoice than the original payment.
Fee and transaction reports
For a breakdown, Stripe’s payout reconciliation report lists every payment, refund, dispute and fee included in each payout, with gross, fee and net columns. The Balance report is the alternative if you use manual payouts. Download the itemised CSV for the quarter to check your fee totals.
If you have more than one Stripe account
Each Stripe account has its own fees and its own tax invoices. If you run several products through separate Stripe accounts, download the invoice for each one every month.
Questions
Can I claim GST on Stripe fees if I’m not registered for GST?
No. Only GST-registered businesses can claim GST credits. If you’re not registered, the full fee, including the GST, is simply a business expense.
Are Stripe fees “bank fees” with no GST?
No. The ATO’s Simpler BAS GST bookkeeping guide lists bank fees and charges as not reported on the BAS for GST, but Stripe applies GST to its fees for Australian accounts and issues tax invoices for them.
Do I get the GST back on fees when I refund a customer?
Stripe’s pricing page says processing fees from the original payment are not returned on a refund, so the fee and its GST credit stay as they were. The refund itself reduces your sales and your GST on sales.
What about dispute fees?
Dispute fees are Stripe fees and, like other fees for an Australian account, include GST. Record them as an expense and claim the GST using the monthly tax invoice.
How Foderis helps
Foderis has Stripe built in, so sales are recorded at their full amount with Stripe’s fees kept separate, and the GST on those fees flows into your Simpler BAS figures ready to copy. Bank file imports get AI-suggested categories and receipts are read by AI. Foderis is hosted in Sydney and costs A$9 a month, with a 30-day free trial.
This is general information, not tax advice. Your situation may differ: check with your accountant or the ATO.