GST guide · Updated 8 September 2026
GST on progress claims and retention
A builder asks three questions about a progress claim. When do I owe the GST on the claim, when do I owe the GST on the money the client is holding back, and what has to be printed on the document. Only the third has one answer for everybody. The first two branch on your accounting basis, then on whether Division 156 applies, then on whether your claim is an invoice at all, and this page works through them in that order with the provision and the date beside every rule.
Start here
Your accounting basis decides most of this
Before anything else, know which column you are in. Almost all of the machinery on this page belongs to the right-hand one, and a builder in the left-hand column can read the tax invoice section and stop.
On a cash basis
- The GST follows the money. You report the GST inside what actually arrived in the quarter, and no more.
- Division 156 does not apply to you at all (s 156-25).
- The retention determination does not apply either (PAR 2017/2 clause 6(d)), so the GST on retention waits until the money does.
- The credit side mirrors it: you claim GST on a bill to the extent you have paid it (s 29-10(2)).
On a non-cash (accrual) basis
- The GST is attributable to the earlier of an invoice being issued and any payment being received (s 29-5(1)).
- Division 156 may treat each stage as a separate supply, which stops one payment dragging in the GST on the whole contract.
- The retention determination defers the GST on the retained slice until the retention is invoiced or received, whichever is earlier.
- You cannot claim a credit on a bill until you hold the tax invoice (s 29-10(3)).
Who may account on a cash basis
You may choose to account on a cash basis, with effect from the first day of the tax period that you choose, if: (a) you are a small business entity (other than because of subsection 328-110(4) of the ITAA 1997) for the income year in which you make your choice; or (ab) you do not carry on a business and your GST turnover does not exceed the cash accounting turnover threshold; or (b) for income tax purposes, you account for your income using the receipts method
A trading builder takes the small business entity path in paragraph (a), and the test there is an aggregated turnover under $10 million, GST exclusive, either last year or likely this year (s 328-110(1) ITAA 1997).
The $2 million cash accounting turnover threshold in s 29-40(3) is the one most often quoted at builders and it is the wrong one: it applies only to an entity that does not carry on a business. No regulation specifies a higher amount than either figure.
- Provision
- s 29-40(1) and (3) GST Act; s 328-110(1) ITAA 1997
- In effect
- GST Act compilation dated 1 January 2026
When the GST falls due
Attribution on a progress payment
Two rules and one trap. The trap is what happens on an accrual basis when the contract turns out not to be a progressive supply, which is why the Division 156 question is worth answering before you sign.
Cash basis: attribution to the extent the money is received
However, if you account on a cash basis, then: (a) if, in a tax period, all of the consideration is received for a taxable supply: GST on the supply is attributable to that tax period; or (b) if, in a tax period, part of the consideration is received: GST on the supply is attributable to that tax period, but only to the extent that the consideration is received in that tax period; or (c) if, in a tax period, none of the consideration is received: none of the GST on the supply is attributable to that tax period.
That is the whole rule. A claim issued in June and paid in July belongs to the September quarter. A part payment brings in the GST inside the part, and nothing else.
This is why most of the machinery on the rest of this page never touches a small builder. It is a relief, and it is worth knowing which side of it you are on before the first claim goes out.
- Provision
- s 29-5(2) GST Act
- In effect
- Compilation dated 1 January 2026
Non-cash basis: the earlier of the invoice and the payment
The GST payable by you on a taxable supply is attributable to: (a) the tax period in which any of the consideration is received for the supply; or (b) if, before any of the consideration is received, an invoice is issued relating to the supply: the tax period in which the invoice is issued.
So a claim sent on 28 June sits in the June quarter whether or not a dollar of it arrives before the thirtieth. Whether the progress claim is the invoice that does that depends on your contract, which is the section after next.
Input tax credits run the same way for the party paying the claim, under s 29-10(1): the earlier of providing any of the consideration and an invoice being issued.
- Provision
- s 29-5(1)(a) and (b) GST Act; s 29-10(1) for the credit side
- In effect
- Compilation dated 1 January 2026
Off Division 156, a first payment brings in the GST on the whole contract
Under subsection 29-5(1), if you do not account for GST on a cash basis, you attribute all the GST payable on a taxable supply (or each separate supply if Division 156 applies) to the tax period in which an invoice is issued or you receive an amount of consideration in respect of that supply, whichever is the earlier, even though that amount of consideration excludes the retention amount.
This is the largest cash flow trap on an accrual basis. If the contract is not a progressive supply, and Division 99 does not apply to the deposit, a signing deposit or a first payment attributes the GST on the entire contract price to that quarter.
On a $660,000 contract that is $60,000 of GST reportable on a $20,000 deposit. It is the whole reason the Division 156 question below matters, and the reason it is worth answering before you sign rather than at the first activity statement.
- Provision
- s 29-5(1)(a) GST Act; GSTR 2000/29 paragraph 176, and paragraph 177 for credits
- In effect
- Ruling consolidated to 11 December 2013
Division 156
Supplies made on a progressive or periodic basis
Division 156 treats each stage as a separate supply for attribution, which is what stops one payment dragging in the GST on the whole contract. It applies only where both statutory limbs are met, and only if you are not on a cash basis.
Both limbs have to be met, and then each stage is its own supply
The GST payable by you on a taxable supply that is made: (a) for a period or on a progressive basis; and (b) for consideration that is to be provided on a progressive or periodic basis; is attributable, in accordance with section 29-5, as if each progressive or periodic component of the supply were a separate supply.
The supply has to be progressive AND the consideration has to be provided progressively. One without the other is not enough.
Section 156-10(1) mirrors it for the party claiming the credit. Where the components are not readily identifiable, s 156-5(2) and s 156-10(2) work them out as the proportion of the total consideration that each separate amount represents.
- Provision
- s 156-1, s 156-5(1) and (2), s 156-10(1) and (2) GST Act
- In effect
- Compilation dated 1 January 2026
Progress payments on a house construction contract are the ruling's own example
You provide consideration on a progressive basis when it is paid by instalments that reflect stages of a supply or acquisition: for example, progress payments on a house construction contract.
That is the consideration limb. The supply limb is paragraph 27: a supply is on a progressive basis when the contract provides for stages of the supply during the course of the supply.
The trap is next door. Paragraph 25: a supply is not for a period merely because there is a stipulated completion date. Paragraph 26: goods or services to be delivered or completed by a specific date are not, on that basis alone, a supply for a period.
- Provision
- GSTR 2000/35 paragraphs 25, 26, 27, 28
- In effect
- Consolidated version incorporating the 11 December 2013 addendum
Milestone contracts: the Commissioner gives indicators, not a test
Contracts for major capital works often involve construction over a lengthy period of time and result in progress payments being made upon agreed milestones being reached. Division 156 may or may not apply to supplies and acquisitions made under such contracts, depending on the terms of the contract.
Read paragraphs 107 to 114 as indicators pointing each way, because that is what they are. Nobody can tell you from a web page which side of the line your contract falls on.
- Paragraph 109: milestone payments for an item affixed to land owned by the recipient are a progressive supply of goods and services, whether or not the supplier owns the plans. The example given is a warehouse built on the recipient's land.
- Paragraph 110: construction using materials provided by the recipient is a progressive supply of services.
- Paragraph 111: where title in each completed stage passes to the recipient during construction, the contract is for a progressive supply.
- Paragraph 112: a ship built to milestone payments with title passing only on delivery is NOT within Division 156.
- Paragraph 114: fittings and fixtures supplied and installed, with title passing on completion of installation, are not a progressive supply either.
- Provision
- GSTR 2000/35 paragraphs 105 to 114
- In effect
- Consolidated version incorporating the 11 December 2013 addendum
Where Division 156 is switched off, and where it is switched on for you
This Division (other than sections 156-15 and 156-17) does not apply if you account on a cash basis.
A lease, hire or similar arrangement is treated as made on a progressive or periodic basis for the period of the arrangement (s 156-22), which is the plant and equipment hire on your job.
Hire purchase is carved out. Section 156-23 treats a supply or acquisition of goods or credit under a hire purchase agreement as not progressive or periodic, for agreements entered into on or after 1 July 2012. GSTR 2000/29 says 2 July 2012 in six places and the statute says 1 July; the statute governs.
- Provision
- s 156-25, s 156-22, s 156-23 GST Act; Sch 3 items 9 and 11, Tax Laws Amendment (2011 Measures No. 9) Act 2012
- In effect
- Hire purchase carve-out applies to agreements entered into on or after 1 July 2012
One invoice for the whole contract does not drag in all the GST
For the purposes of Division 156 an invoice for the whole supply or acquisition, or a number of components of the supply or acquisition, will not be regarded as the relevant invoice for attribution purposes. This document, if it is a tax invoice may nevertheless still be a tax invoice in relation to each component of the supply or acquisition.
You also do not have to issue a separate tax invoice for each stage. Paragraph 49: you do not have to issue separate tax invoices for each component of the supply if your agreement or similar document satisfies the requirements for a tax invoice, and paragraph 50 allows an attachment to carry the missing information.
If you and the client account on different bases, paragraph 22 puts Division 156 on the party that is not on a cash basis, and only on that party.
- Provision
- GSTR 2000/35 paragraphs 22, 32 to 34, 48, 49, 50; s 45-5 GST Act
- In effect
- Consolidated version incorporating the 11 December 2013 addendum
Scope limit
If you own the land and sell the finished property, none of this applies
Spec builds, house and land packages and developer stock where the builder holds title and sells the completed property are sales of real property under a standard land contract. Attribution for those runs under GSTR 2000/28, which is a different ruling with different rules, and GSTR 2000/29 footnote 2 points to it expressly. Do not run a spec build through a progress claim calculator. The rest of this page is about building work performed for a recipient, including work affixed to land the recipient owns.
The document question
Is your progress claim the invoice?
On an accrual basis this decides the quarter, and it is the single biggest attribution risk a builder carries. It is answered by your contract's payment clause, not by what the document is called.
What an invoice is, and what it does not have to be
invoice means a document notifying an obligation to make a payment.
It does not have to be a tax invoice and it does not have to be called an invoice. A payment claim, a progress claim or a certificate can each be one.
The ruling adds two conditions. The document must inform the parties that there is a presently existing obligation to pay and the amount of it (paragraph 12), and the amount notified must be a sum certain: it is not enough that an amount might become payable in the future on some contingency (paragraph 31).
- Provision
- s 195-1 GST Act (Dictionary); GSTR 2000/34 paragraphs 12 and 31
- In effect
- Ruling consolidated to 30 October 2013. Applies where you do not account on a cash basis
Certify then pay: the certificate is the invoice, not the claim
A third party who is authorised to determine and notify an amount payable by one party to another can issue an invoice for the purposes of sections 29-5 and 29-10. For example, the certificate issued by an independent quantity surveyor who assesses the amount due in relation to each progress claim under a construction contract will be an invoice.
The ruling's worked example is a concreting subcontractor claiming monthly, under a contract that expressly says no obligation to pay arises when the claim is presented and that the obligation arises only on certification by an independent third party. On certification the certificate goes to both parties. The ruling's conclusion: the certificate is an invoice, and the initial claim is not.
Turn that around and it is just as important. Where your contract makes the claim itself create the obligation to pay a sum certain, the claim is the invoice and the GST is attributable when you send it.
The ATO attaches a note to this ruling: some provisions ruled on may have been amended, so parts of it may no longer be relied on. The definition of invoice in s 195-1, which this section rests on, is unchanged in the current compilation.
- Provision
- GSTR 2000/34 paragraphs 32, 42, 43, 44, with the ATO note added 16 July 2010
- In effect
- Ruling consolidated to 30 October 2013
Issued means sent, not the date printed on the document
An invoice is issued when the supplier sends a document which notifies the recipient of the obligation to pay. The actual date when the invoice issues may not be the preparation date. The actual date is the date when the invoice is electronically transmitted, posted, couriered, hand delivered or similar. This date determines the tax period to which the GST payable and input tax credits are attributed.
This one bites in software. A claim dated 29 June and emailed on 3 July is attributed to the September quarter, not the June one. If your system stamps a date on preparation and the claim goes out days later, the two will disagree and the send date is the one that counts.
- Provision
- GSTR 2000/34 paragraph 33
- In effect
- Ruling consolidated to 30 October 2013
Retention
The GST on the money the client is holding back
Retention is the reason the Commissioner made a determination at all. On an accrual basis the GST on the retained slice is deferred, and it is deferred to a date most builders get wrong by a quarter.
Why there is a special rule at all
The retention amounts may be significant, with some contracts allowing the recipient to withhold as much as 10 per cent of payments pending full and satisfactory performance of the contract or until the end of the defects liability period. Recipients may retain these retention amounts for lengthy periods.
Without a special rule, an accrual builder would report the GST on money the contract does not let them have yet. Paragraph 178 records the conclusion: having regard to the delay in receiving or paying retention amounts, the Commissioner is satisfied that this application of the basic attribution rules produces an inappropriate result.
The remedy is a determination made under paragraph 29-25(2)(g), which covers a supply made under a contract that provides for retention of some or all of the consideration until certain conditions are met.
- Provision
- GSTR 2000/29 paragraphs 172, 174, 175, 178; s 29-25(2)(g) GST Act
- In effect
- Ruling consolidated to 11 December 2013
The instrument that governs, and who it applies to
This determination applies to entities that: (a) do not account on a cash basis; and (b) make taxable supplies or creditable acquisitions where the contract provides for some or all of the consideration to be retained by the recipient until certain conditions under the contract are met.
The operative rule is the Goods and Services Tax: (Particular Attribution Rules for Retention Payments) Determination 2017, known as PAR 2017/2, registered as F2017L00344 and commencing 31 March 2017. It repealed and replaced the 2000 determination.
Two traps. GSTR 2000/29 Schedule 6 still reproduces the repealed 2000 determination in full, with different clause mechanics, so a page quoting Schedule 6 is quoting a repealed instrument. And the register records PAR 2017/2 as due to sunset on 1 April 2027, which is the date to diarise for anything built on it.
- Provision
- PAR 2017/2 clauses 2, 3, 4; Federal Register F2017L00344
- In effect
- Commenced 31 March 2017. Due to sunset 1 April 2027
Your side: when the GST on the money held back becomes payable
The GST payable on a retention amount is attributable to the earlier of the tax period in which the retention amount is: (i) invoiced; or (ii) the tax period in which the retention amount is received (to the extent the GST payable on the retention amount has not been attributed to an earlier tax period).
Clause 5(b) leaves the rest alone: the GST on the non-retained consideration is attributable when any of that consideration is received or an invoice is issued, whichever is earlier. Only the retained slice is deferred.
Note the word earlier. Invoicing the release brings the GST forward into the quarter you invoice it, even if the money lands in the next one. GSTR 2000/35 paragraph 122 says only that the retention GST is attributed to the tax period in which it is paid; the legislative instrument is the operative rule and it says the earlier of invoiced and received. The two are not identical and no ATO document reconciles them.
- Provision
- PAR 2017/2 clause 5(b) and 5(c); compare GSTR 2000/35 paragraph 122
- In effect
- Commenced 31 March 2017
The other side: when the credit on the retained money arises
The input tax credit on a retention amount is attributable to the earlier of the tax period in which the retention amount is: (i) invoiced; or (ii) the tax period in which the retention amount is paid (to the extent the input tax credit on the retention amount has not been attributed to an earlier tax period).
Clause 6(d) closes it off for anyone on a cash basis: the determination applies only if you do not account on a cash basis.
Clause 8(c) is the one head contractors miss: to avoid doubt, this determination is not intended to override subsection 29-10(3) or Division 156 of the GST Act. So the credit still needs a tax invoice, and it needs one from which the TOTAL price including the retention can be clearly ascertained.
- Provision
- PAR 2017/2 clause 6(b), 6(c), 6(d), 8(c); s 29-10(3) GST Act
- In effect
- Commenced 31 March 2017
How to work out the deferred GST, and the trap in step 1
Step 1 Identify the retention amount as a percentage of the total of the consideration. Step 2 Apply that percentage to the amount of GST payable on the taxable supply, the result is the GST payable on the retention amount.
Consideration is the GST inclusive amount, so the step 1 percentage is the retention as a share of the GST inclusive claim. It is not automatically the retention rate written into your contract. Where the contract strikes retention on the GST exclusive figure, the two differ, and the worked example below shows both.
The clause 9 definition of an invoice for the retention amount is a document notifying an obligation to pay the retention amount, issued once the contract conditions have been met and/or following expiry of the defects liability period. Because the definition covers any part or parts of the consideration, it reaches the common pattern of a first release at practical completion and a second at the end of the defects liability period.
- Provision
- PAR 2017/2 clauses 7, 8 and 9
- In effect
- Commenced 31 March 2017
Release, and a retention that is never released
If the retention amounts are released to the builder, GST applies in the same way as it applies to the progress payments under the building contract. The release of the retention amounts is not consideration for a separate supply made by the builder, it forms part of the consideration for the supply of services under the building contract. This is regardless of whether or not the builder is required to perform rectification work.
The same entry deals with the other case: if the retention amounts are not fully released to the builder, the amount withheld is treated as a reduction in the consideration for the supply made under the building contract.
That is as far as the ATO goes. The register does not say which tax period a resulting decreasing adjustment falls in, and it does not address a disputed withholding. That gap is one for your tax agent rather than a calculator.
The register is an ATO issues register entry, not a public ruling. It names GSTR 2000/29 paragraphs 172 to 189 and GSTR 2000/35 paragraphs 121 to 123 as the source of the ATO view.
- Provision
- GST issues register, Property and construction, Section 02, Issue 2.1
- In effect
- Entry dated 8 January 2004
The four year clock on the retention credit changed on 1 January 2026
If the Commissioner determines, under subsection 29-25(1), the tax period to which an input tax credit for a creditable acquisition you make is attributable: (a) you do not cease to be entitled to the input tax credit under section 93-5; and (b) you cease to be entitled to the input tax credit to the extent that the input tax credit has not been taken into account, in an assessment of a net amount of yours, during the period of 4 years after the day on which you were required to give to the Commissioner a GST return for the tax period to which the input tax credit is attributable under the determination.
PAR 2017/2 is a s 29-25(1) determination, so for the credit on a retention amount the four years run from the return due date for the period the DETERMINATION fixes, not from the period the credit would otherwise have been attributable. The general rule in s 93-5(1) does not apply to it.
Subsections 93-10(1) and (2) were inserted by Schedule 4 item 44 of Act No. 72, 2025, commencing 1 January 2026 and applying to input tax credits whose tax period started on or after 1 July 2012. MT 2024/1, the ATO ruling on the four year limit, predates the change and describes only the other two exceptions; the ATO has said an update is expected late 2026.
- Provision
- s 93-10(1) and (2) GST Act; Sch 4 items 44 and 51, Act No. 72, 2025
- In effect
- Assented 4 December 2025, commenced 1 January 2026
The document
What a progress claim must contain to be a tax invoice
This is the one part of the page with a single answer for everybody. Section 29-70(1) sets the content requirements, and the threshold at which they change is a total price of $1,000 including GST.
Enough information for each of these to be clearly ascertained
- 1The supplier's identity and the supplier's ABN.
- 2If the total price of the supply or supplies is at least $1,000, or the document was issued by the recipient: the recipient's identity or the recipient's ABN.
- 3What is supplied, including the quantity (if applicable) and the price of what is supplied.
- 4The extent to which each supply to which the document relates is a taxable supply.
- 5The date the document is issued.
- 6The amount of GST (if any) payable in relation to each supply to which the document relates.
- 7If the document was issued by the recipient and GST is payable: that the GST is payable by the supplier.
- 8That it can be clearly ascertained from the document that the document was intended to be a tax invoice.
The document must also be issued by the supplier, unless it is a recipient created tax invoice, and be in the approved form. An electronic document meeting those requirements is in the approved form, so a PDF emailed to the client is a tax invoice. Where all taxable sales on the claim include GST of exactly 1/11th of the price, the GST may be shown as a statement that the total price includes GST rather than as a separate figure.
- Provision
- s 29-70(1) GST Act; GSTR 2013/1 paragraphs 9, 12, 18, 31; ATO QC 22438
- In effect
- Compilation dated 1 January 2026
The threshold where the requirements change is $1,000, GST inclusive
Below a total price of $1,000 including GST, a tax invoice does not need to let the recipient's identity or ABN be ascertained. At $1,000 or more it does. No regulation specifies a higher amount, so $1,000 stands.
Almost every progress claim clears that, so put the client's identity or ABN on all of them. The ATO's own guidance makes the same point the practical way: if your tax invoices meet the requirements for sales of $1,000 or more, you can also use them for sales of lesser amounts.
The other threshold worth knowing is the small one. A creditable acquisition of a value not exceeding $75, GST exclusive, needs no tax invoice for the credit, which is a price of $82.50 including GST for most supplies. That is barely relevant to a progress claim and directly relevant to the day's material purchases.
- Provision
- s 29-70(1)(c)(ii) GST Act; s 29-80(1) with section 29-80.01 GST Regulations 2019
- In effect
- GST Act compilation dated 1 January 2026. Regulations compilation dated 1 November 2025
How the retention has to appear on the claim
If a supply is made under a contract where the recipient has retained part of the contract price pending full and satisfactory performance of the contract, or until the end of a defects liability period, the price of what is supplied is the total consideration payable including the retention amount. The tax invoice must contain enough information to enable the total price of this supply to be clearly ascertained. However, the tax invoice can also show the net amount payable while still satisfying this requirement. For example, the tax invoice may set out the price of what is supplied, separately show the retention amount, and show a net amount payable.
This is the single most useful rule on the page, and the one a spreadsheet gets wrong. Show the full price, show the retention on its own line, show the net payable. Do not reduce the price of what is supplied to the net figure.
Paragraph 81 explains why it matters to the person paying you: for the input tax credit to be attributable to the extent of the amount paid, the recipient must hold a tax invoice from which the total price of what is supplied can be clearly ascertained. Net it off and you have handed your client a credit problem.
- Provision
- GSTR 2013/1 paragraphs 30 and 81
- In effect
- Ruling applies on and from 1 July 2010
A builder's licence number does not identify the supplier
A builder's registration number or licence number is insufficient in itself to identify the supplier, or where applicable the recipient.
Paragraph 21 says what does: information sufficient to identify the supplier or recipient includes, but is not limited to, the legal name of the entity or the registered business name. Put the licence number on the claim by all means, but not instead of the entity name.
Where the supplier or recipient is a trust, paragraph 23 requires the identity of the trust to be clearly ascertainable from the document, and the ABN issued to the trust as well.
Paragraph 14 is the reason all of this has to be printed rather than looked up: information that can only be determined by reference to an external source, such as the Australian Business Register, cannot be clearly ascertained from the document.
- Provision
- GSTR 2013/1 paragraphs 13, 14, 21, 22, 23
- In effect
- Ruling applies on and from 1 July 2010
When a claim falls short, and the 28 day rule
A document issued by an entity to another entity may be treated by the other entity as a tax invoice for the purposes of this Act if: (a) it would comply with the requirements for a tax invoice but for the fact that it does not contain certain information; and (b) all of that information can be clearly ascertained from other documents given by the entity to the other entity.
Subsection 29-70(1B) adds a second route: the Commissioner may treat as a tax invoice a document that would not otherwise be one. GSTR 2013/1 paragraph 46 says the other documents relied on under (1A) need never have been intended as a tax invoice, and names a product list, a business card, an email or an earlier tax invoice.
One limit matters for head contractors. Paragraph 50: a recipient cannot treat a document that does not meet the recipient created tax invoice requirements as a tax invoice by relying on other documents.
Section 29-70(2): the supplier must give a tax invoice within 28 days after the recipient requests it. The ATO's guidance carves out a sale of $82.50 including GST or less.
- Provision
- s 29-70(1A), (1B) and (2) GST Act; GSTR 2013/1 paragraphs 19, 42 to 50, 78
- In effect
- Compilation dated 1 January 2026
No tax invoice, no credit, on either basis
If you do not hold a tax invoice for a creditable acquisition when you give to the Commissioner a GST return for the tax period to which the input tax credit (or any part of the input tax credit) on the acquisition would otherwise be attributable: (a) the input tax credit (including any part of the input tax credit) is not attributable to that tax period; and (b) the input tax credit (or part) is attributable to the first tax period (if any) for which you give to the Commissioner a GST return at a time when you hold that tax invoice.
The words "(if any)" were inserted by Schedule 4 item 36 of Act No. 72, 2025 and commenced on 1 January 2026. The subsection closes with a proviso: it does not apply in circumstances the Commissioner has determined in writing to be circumstances in which the requirement for a tax invoice does not apply.
The same Act inserted a new election at s 29-10(4) to (6), letting you notify the Commissioner that a credit is to be attributable to a later specified tax period. It cannot be revoked or amended, no ATO guidance yet addresses how it interacts with Division 156 or the retention determination, and GSTR 2000/29 is under ATO review for these amendments. Do not build a process on it yet.
- Provision
- s 29-10(3) GST Act; Sch 4 items 36 and 43, Act No. 72, 2025
- In effect
- Amended text commenced 1 January 2026
Variations
How an approved variation is treated
A variation that changes the agreed consideration is an adjustment event. Whether it produces an adjustment, and therefore whether anyone has to issue an adjustment note, turns entirely on whether the GST was already reported in an earlier quarter.
An approved variation is an adjustment event
An adjustment event is any event which has the effect of: (a) cancelling a supply or acquisition; or (b) changing the consideration for a supply or acquisition; or (c) causing a supply or acquisition to become, or stop being, a taxable supply or creditable acquisition.
Section 19-10(2)(b) puts it beyond argument by naming a change to the previously agreed consideration for a supply, whether due to the offer of a discount or otherwise.
That is where the certainty stops. No ATO public ruling addresses construction variations by name, so whether a particular variation is a change in the consideration for the same supply or a separate supply turns on the facts of the variation.
- Provision
- s 19-10(1) and s 19-10(2)(b) GST Act
- In effect
- Compilation dated 1 January 2026
Most variations produce no adjustment and need no adjustment note
An adjustment does not always arise from an adjustment event. One of the requirements for an adjustment is that the GST on the supply, or the input tax credit on the acquisition, was attributable to an earlier tax period. Where the adjustment event occurs in the same period in which the GST on the supply or the input tax credit on the acquisition is attributable, this requirement is not met. Changes in your GST payable or your input tax credits resulting from these adjustment events are accounted for in calculating your GST payable or your input tax credits for the period. Where the event does not give rise to an adjustment, you do not need to issue an adjustment note.
So a variation agreed and claimed in the same quarter is simply attributed under the normal rules. The statutory hooks are s 19-40(b) on the supply side and s 19-70(1)(b) on the acquisition side.
It is the variation that reaches back into a quarter already reported that creates work.
- Provision
- GSTR 2000/19 paragraph 15; s 19-40(b) and s 19-70(1)(b) GST Act
- In effect
- Consolidated ruling. References to the 1999 Regulations continue to have effect for the 2019 Regulations
When it does reach back: increasing and decreasing adjustments
If the corrected GST amount is greater than the previously attributed GST amount you have an increasing adjustment equal to the difference (s 19-50), and if it is less you have a decreasing adjustment (s 19-55). On the acquisition side Subdivision 19-C runs ss 19-70 to 19-85, and s 19-85 is the decreasing adjustment a head contractor uses when a subcontractor's claim is cut back.
An adjustment is attributable to the tax period in which you become aware of it (s 29-20(1)). On a cash basis, where the adjustment arises from an event that makes you liable to provide consideration, it is attributed to the extent the consideration is provided in the period (s 29-20(2)).
A decreasing adjustment arising from an adjustment event needs an adjustment note (s 29-20(3)), unless the decreasing adjustment does not exceed $75 (s 29-80(2) with section 29-80.02 of the Regulations). The supplier issues it within 28 days, EXCEPT where any tax invoice for the supply would have been a recipient created tax invoice, in which case the recipient issues it. That is the head contractor, not the subcontractor.
- Provision
- ss 19-50, 19-55, 19-70 to 19-85, 29-20(1) to (3), 29-75(1) and (2), 29-80(2) GST Act
- In effect
- Compilation dated 1 January 2026
Cost plus, rise and fall, and a price nobody knows yet
Where you do not know the total consideration when consideration is first paid or received or an invoice is issued, and working it out depends on a future event not entirely within your control, a second determination applies: PAR 2017/8, F2017L00425, commenced 1 April 2017. Like the retention determination, it applies only if you do not account on a cash basis.
Clause 5(3): in tax periods after the one in which you first attributed any GST on the supply, attribute GST on any increase in consideration to the earlier of the period in which you issue an invoice or amended invoice for the increase and the period in which you receive any of the additional consideration.
Clause 6(4) is the hard backstop on the other side, and it is the limb most often missed: the recipient's credit is attributable to the tax period in which they FIRST KNOW the total amount of consideration, to the extent it has not been attributed earlier. Once the final number is known the balance of the credit falls due whether or not an amended invoice ever issues.
This instrument is due to sunset on 1 October 2027.
- Provision
- PAR 2017/8 clauses 2, 4, 5(3), 6(4) and 6(5)
- In effect
- Commenced 1 April 2017. Due to sunset 1 October 2027
Worked example
One contract, followed all the way through
A fixed price build on land the client owns. Contract sum $660,000 including GST, claimed in stages against a schedule of values, retention at 5 per cent of each claim, a twelve month defects liability period, quarterly activity statements. Every figure divides cleanly by eleven so you can follow it against your own claim without a calculator.
The claim, and where the GST already is
- Contract sum, including GST
- $660,000
- GST inside the contract sum
- $660,000 / 11 = $60,000
- Claim 4, work completed this stage, including GST
- $110,000
- GST inside this claim
- $110,000 / 11 = $10,000
- Value of the claim, GST exclusive
- $110,000 - $10,000 = $100,000
Australian building contracts are quoted GST inclusive, so the GST is extracted by dividing by 11, never added on top. Ten per cent of $110,000 is $11,000, and using that figure overstates the GST by $1,000 on this claim alone. The statutory route to the same answer is s 9-70 and s 9-75(1): GST is 10 per cent of the value, and value is the price multiplied by 10/11.
Retention withheld from the claim
- Contract retention rate
- 5% of each claim, struck on the claim including GST
- Retention withheld
- 5% x $110,000 = $5,500
- Net amount payable on this claim
- $110,000 - $5,500 = $104,500
The tax invoice still shows the price of what is supplied as $110,000, with the $5,500 shown separately and $104,500 as the net payable. Reducing the price of what is supplied to $104,500 is the error GSTR 2013/1 paragraph 30 exists to stop, and it is your client's input tax credit that pays for it.
Split the GST between now and later
- Clause 7 step 1, retention as a share of the consideration
- $5,500 / $110,000 = 5%
- Clause 7 step 2, apply it to the GST on the supply
- 5% x $10,000 = $500
- GST on the non-retained consideration
- $10,000 - $500 = $9,500
- Check it against the net payable
- $104,500 / 11 = $9,500
The check works out here only because the retention was struck on the GST inclusive claim, so the contract percentage and the clause 7 percentage happen to be the same number. Step 4 is what happens when they are not.
If your contract strikes retention on the GST exclusive figure
- Retention withheld
- 5% x $100,000 = $5,000
- Clause 7 step 1, as a share of the $110,000 consideration
- $5,000 / $110,000 = 4.5455%
- Clause 7 step 2, deferred GST
- 4.5455% x $10,000 = $454.55
- GST attributable now
- $10,000 - $454.55 = $9,545.45
- Check it against the net payable
- $105,000 / 11 = $9,545.45
Never take the contract's retention percentage as the clause 7 step 1 percentage. Take the retention in dollars and the GST inclusive consideration, derive the percentage from those two, and keep the derived figure visible so you can see when it differs from your contract rate. Clause 7 sets out the two steps; the figures here are those steps applied to this contract.
What goes on this quarter's activity statement, on an accrual basis
- Assumed
- Division 156 applies and the claim is the invoice under the contract
- Claim sent
- 12 May, in the quarter ending 30 June
- Attributed this quarter, clause 5(b)
- $104,500, carrying $9,500 of GST
- Deferred, clause 5(c)
- $5,500, carrying $500 of GST
- Reported for this claim
- $104,500 at G1 and $9,500 at 1A
The send date decides the quarter, not the date printed on the claim. Your client, on an accrual basis, takes the matching $9,500 of input tax credit in the same quarter under clause 6(b), and needs a tax invoice from which the full $110,000 can be clearly ascertained to do it.
The same claim on a cash basis
- Money received
- $104,500 on 3 July
- GST attributable
- $9,500, in the September quarter, not the June one
- The retained $5,500
- $500 of GST, in whichever quarter the money lands
No Division 156 (s 156-25) and no retention determination (PAR 2017/2 clause 6(d)). On a cash basis the GST simply follows money in and money out, and the same claim that belonged to the June quarter on accruals belongs to the September quarter here.
An approved variation, agreed and claimed in the same quarter
- Approved variation, including GST
- $22,000
- GST inside it
- $22,000 / 11 = $2,000
- Retention at 5%
- 5% x $22,000 = $1,100, deferring 5% x $2,000 = $100
- Attributed now
- $20,900, carrying $1,900 of GST
Because the GST on the varied amount was never attributed to an EARLIER tax period, this is an adjustment event that produces no adjustment and needs no adjustment note (s 19-40(b), GSTR 2000/19 paragraph 15). A variation that cuts back a claim already reported in an earlier quarter is different: that is a decreasing adjustment under s 19-55, attributed to the period you become aware of it under s 29-20(1), and it needs an adjustment note where the decreasing adjustment exceeds $75.
The retention is released, and the invoice date beats the payment date
- Held from claim 4
- $5,500, carrying $500 of deferred GST
- You invoice the retention
- 25 March, in the March quarter
- GST attributable, clause 5(c)(i)
- $500, in the March quarter
- Money arrives
- 18 April, and nothing further is attributed
- Had you never invoiced it
- $500 would fall in the June quarter, when the money arrived
Clause 5(c) takes the EARLIER of invoiced and received, so invoicing the release pulls the GST forward a quarter. Across the claim, the retention and the release the GST is still $10,000: the determination and Division 156 decide when, never how much. If part of the retention is never released, the ATO treats the amount withheld as a reduction in the consideration, and the timing of that decreasing adjustment is a question for your tax agent.
Steps 3, 4 and 7 apply clause 7 of PAR 2017/2 and the adjustment provisions named beside them to this contract. The split across the G1 and 1A labels in step 5 follows from the ATO's guidance on reporting a progressive sale, read together with the deferral in clause 5(c). The rules underneath are quoted above with their provisions. Steps 5 and 8 assume Division 156 applies and that the claim is the invoice. Neither can be assumed for a real contract, so check the result against your own before you rely on it.
The honest limits
Five questions this page will not answer
Each turns on the terms of your contract, or on a point the ATO has not settled.
Whether your contract attracts Division 156
There is no bright line. GSTR 2000/35 paragraph 105 says Division 156 may or may not apply depending on the terms of the contract, and paragraphs 107 to 114 give indicators rather than a test. Your accountant or registered BAS agent has to read the actual contract, in particular the stages, the milestone triggers and when title in the work passes.
Whether your progress claim is an invoice
This is the biggest attribution risk on an accrual basis and it is contract specific. This page does not map any standard form contract or state security of payment Act onto the attribution rules, and no ATO ruling does either. Read the payment clause, then confirm.
Whether a particular variation is a change in consideration or a separate supply
No ATO public ruling addresses construction variations by name. What is settled is above: a variation changing the previously agreed consideration is an adjustment event, and an adjustment only arises if the GST was attributable to an earlier tax period. Beyond that it turns on the facts of the variation.
A retention that is never released
The ATO issues register says the amount withheld is treated as a reduction in the consideration, but it does not say which tax period the resulting decreasing adjustment falls in and it does not address a disputed withholding. Do not calculate it.
How the new s 29-10 election interacts with any of this
The election to move a credit to a later specified tax period is new from 1 January 2026 and cannot be revoked or amended. No ATO guidance addresses how it works alongside Division 156 or the retention determination, and GSTR 2000/29 is under review for the amendments. It exists; that is all anyone can safely say today.
A different subject, on the same money
How much you may hold, and where it has to sit, is state law
- Queensland fixes retention percentages by statute: 5 per cent of the contract price before practical completion (s 67K(1) and (2) for a head contract, where the contracting party is a principal or a special purpose vehicle, s 67L(1) for a subcontract), the head-contract cap being one the parties may contract out of in writing, on an initialled provision that explains and expressly excludes it (s 67K(4)), with no equivalent for the subcontract cap, a maximum of 10 per cent of any one payment (s 67M(2)), and 2.5 per cent of the contract price at any time after practical completion (s 67N(1)), in the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991, reprint current as at 1 February 2026.
- Queensland also sets a fallback defects liability period of 12 months from practical completion, but only where the contract allows retention to be held after practical completion for correcting defects and does not itself provide for release at the end of an identifiable period (s 67NA(1) and (2)).
- Queensland and Western Australia each run a statutory retention trust account regime. Victoria, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory set no statutory percentage cap. Retention figures for New South Wales and South Australia are not published here.
- None of this changes the GST attribution rules above. It changes how much you may hold and where the money has to sit, which is a separate question with separate penalties.
Review triggers
Three dates that will change this page
- PAR 2017/2, the retention determination this whole page rests on, is due to sunset on 1 April 2027. If it is remade, the clause numbers quoted here are likely to change.
- PAR 2017/8, the determination for contracts whose total price is not yet known, is due to sunset on 1 October 2027.
- GSTR 2000/29 is under ATO review to reflect the 1 January 2026 amendments, and MT 2024/1, the ruling on the four year credit limit, is expected to be updated in late 2026 to cover the new s 93-10(1) exception.
Where we stand
What OneBookPlus does with a claim, and what it does not
Software can do the arithmetic and hold the running total. It cannot decide your accounting basis, and it cannot tell you whether Division 156 applies to your contract.
Retention on a claim
Progress claims withhold retention automatically at the contract percentage, show it as its own line on the tax invoice beside the full price and the net payable, and keep the running total held on the claims screen. There is no one-tap retention release yet, so when retention falls due you raise the release as a claim yourself, the same way as any other.
The books are on every plan
The Free plan covers invoicing, quotes, contacts and bookings, and it carries the books too: the ledger, Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet, cash flow, aged receivables and payables, GST and BAS are on every plan. Paid plans lift the invoice, contact and login limits and add the advanced and CFO reporting layers on top.
Builder Suite is $99/mo on top of any core plan
Progress claims, estimating, plan takeoff, the schedule of values, variations and cost control per job are part of that add-on, not of the free core. It is not charged per user.
Logins are banded by plan
Each plan includes a set number of logins: 1 on Free, 3 on Starter, 5 on Plus and 10 on Growth. On Growth an extra login is $9/mo, prorated onto the same invoice, so an eleventh hire costs $9 and not a new plan. Rostered staff who never sign in (instructors, cleaners, stylists) are free and unlimited on every plan.
What it does not do
- No direct ATO lodgement. OneBookPlus prepares and validates BAS and returns; it does not lodge them. You or your agent lodge through myGov, the ATO portal or your agent's software.
- No bank feed. Bank feeds were withdrawn while we replace the provider. Expenses and bills are entered by hand or read from a scanned receipt or supplier invoice, bank statements import from CSV, OFX or QFX, and invoices reconcile against payments recorded in the product.
- No Xero or MYOB sync. Data exports as Xero and MYOB-ready CSV. A live two-way sync is not built and is not on a date.
- No TPAR lodgement file. The taxable payments annual report exports as a CSV for you or your agent to work from, with the address column blank, rather than the fixed-length file the ATO's lodgement channel accepts.
- No view on whether Division 156 applies to your contract, and no view on whether your progress claim is an invoice. Both are contract questions, and they are the two that decide the quarter.
Questions
Questions builders ask about a claim
Does Division 156 apply to an ordinary residential building contract?
No page can answer that for your contract, and the Commissioner declines to. GSTR 2000/35 paragraph 105 says Division 156 may or may not apply depending on the terms of the contract, and paragraphs 107 to 114 give indicators rather than a test. The indicators pointing towards it are work affixed to land the recipient owns, construction using materials the recipient provides, and title in each completed stage passing during construction. The ones pointing away are contracts where title passes only on delivery, or only on completion of installation. Read the payment and title clauses with your tax agent before the first claim.
Is the progress claim itself the invoice, or is the certificate?
It depends on what your contract says creates the obligation to pay. An invoice is a document notifying an obligation to make a payment (s 195-1), and the amount notified must be a sum certain rather than an amount that might become payable on some contingency (GSTR 2000/34 paragraph 31). Where the contract says no obligation arises until an independent third party certifies, the ruling's own example at paragraphs 42 to 44 treats the certificate as the invoice and the claim as not one. Where the claim itself creates the obligation, the claim is the invoice. The ATO notes that some provisions ruled on in that ruling may have been amended.
When does the GST on retention I have held back become payable?
On a non-cash basis, the earlier of the tax period the retention amount is invoiced and the tax period it is received (PAR 2017/2 clause 5(c)). Invoicing the release therefore brings the GST forward even if the money arrives in the following quarter. On a cash basis the determination does not apply at all (clause 6(d)) and the GST falls in the period the money actually lands. To size the deferred amount, clause 7 takes the retention as a percentage of the GST inclusive consideration and applies that percentage to the GST on the supply.
How should retention appear on the tax invoice I send?
Show the full price of what is supplied, then the retention separately, then the net amount payable. GSTR 2013/1 paragraph 30 says the price of what is supplied is the total consideration payable including the retention amount, and that the tax invoice can also show the net amount payable while still satisfying the requirement. Paragraph 81 explains what is at stake for the other side: the recipient must hold a tax invoice from which the total price can be clearly ascertained before the credit is attributable to the extent of the amount paid.
Which claims need the client's identity or ABN printed on them?
Any where the total price is at least $1,000 including GST (s 29-70(1)(c)(ii)), and no regulation specifies a higher amount. Almost every progress claim clears that, so the practical answer is all of them, which is also what the ATO suggests: an invoice meeting the requirements for sales of $1,000 or more can be used for smaller ones too. Note that your own licence number does not identify you either. GSTR 2013/1 paragraph 22 says a builder's registration or licence number is insufficient in itself, and paragraph 21 asks for the legal name of the entity or the registered business name.
Does an approved variation need an adjustment note?
Usually not. A variation changing the previously agreed consideration is an adjustment event (s 19-10(2)(b)), but an adjustment only arises where the GST was attributable to an earlier tax period (s 19-40(b)). A variation agreed and claimed in the same quarter is attributed under the normal rules, and GSTR 2000/19 paragraph 15 says that where the event gives rise to no adjustment you do not need to issue an adjustment note. One that cuts back a claim already reported in an earlier quarter is a decreasing adjustment under s 19-55, attributed to the period you become aware of it, and it needs a note where the decreasing adjustment exceeds $75.
Sources
Every instrument this page quotes
Each is linked at its primary source, with its compilation or consolidation date beside it. All were checked on 7 September 2026, and the Queensland Act on 8 September 2026.
- A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999, Compilation No. 96Compilation dated 1 January 2026, including amendments up to Act No. 72, 2025
- A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Regulations 2019, Compilation No. 5Compilation dated 1 November 2025
- PAR 2017/2, particular attribution rules for retention paymentsF2017L00344, commenced 31 March 2017, due to sunset 1 April 2027
- PAR 2017/8, particular attribution rules where total consideration not knownF2017L00425, commenced 1 April 2017, due to sunset 1 October 2027
- Treasury Laws Amendment (Strengthening Financial Systems and Other Measures) Act 2025Act No. 72, 2025, assented 4 December 2025, Schedule 4 commenced 1 January 2026
- GSTR 2000/35, Division 156, supplies and acquisitions made on a progressive or periodic basisConsolidated version incorporating the 11 December 2013 addendum
- GSTR 2000/34, when an invoice is issuedConsolidated to 30 October 2013, with the ATO note added 16 July 2010
- GSTR 2000/29, attributing GST payable and input tax creditsConsolidated to 11 December 2013, under ATO review for the 2025 amendments
- GSTR 2013/1, tax invoicesApplies on and from 1 July 2010
- GSTR 2000/19, making adjustments for adjustment eventsConsolidated ruling, references to the 1999 Regulations continue for the 2019 Regulations
- ATO GST issues register, property and construction, section 02 building contractsIssue 2.1, entry dated 8 January 2004
- ATO, progressive or periodic sales and purchasesQC 16518, page last updated 17 July 2020
- ATO, tax invoicesQC 22438, page last updated 25 August 2025
- ATO, choosing an accounting method for GSTQC 22440, page last updated 17 December 2019
- Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991Reprint current as at 1 February 2026, for the Queensland retention caps only
Keep reading
Related guides and tools
Building business software
The product page for the same reader: estimates, progress claims, variations, subcontractors and the books.
Accounting software for Australian builders
The buyer's guide beside this one: the six things a build needs that a general ledger does not, and the realistic options.
Progress claim template and calculator
The arithmetic on this page as a tool: retention, the net payable, the deferred GST on the retained slice and the derived clause 7 percentage, with the claim as a PDF.
GST calculator
Add or extract GST on a single figure, for checking a claim line in isolation.
Free fillable construction templates
Variation order, site instruction, extension of time, practical completion and defects list, as fillable PDFs.
Builder Suite app
Estimating, takeoff, the schedule of values, progress claims with retention withheld, and cost control per job.
Building and Construction Award guide
The payroll half of the compliance question, for builders with employed carpenters rather than subcontractors only.
About the author
Bishal Shrestha
Founder & CEO, OneBookPlus
Bishal spent a decade running digital projects for Australian small businesses before founding OneBookPlus. He writes and maintains these pages, and publishes what OneBookPlus does not do alongside what it does.
Read the founder bioHow this page was researched
Built from the GST Act and Regulations and the two attribution determinations on the Federal Register of Legislation, the rulings and the issues register on the ATO legal database, and the Queensland retention caps in the QBCC Act reprint. Each rule carries its provision, its source link and the date the text takes effect. Everything said about OneBookPlus describes what it does today.
Take the arithmetic off the spreadsheet
The books are on the free plan, so you can invoice a job and read the GST summary without spending anything. Progress claims with retention withheld at the contract percentage, on their own line, with the running total held, come with the Builder Suite. Your accounting basis and your contract terms are still yours and your tax agent's to settle.
Last reviewed and updated: by Bishal Shrestha