NDIS supports and GST:when are they GST-free?

The ATO sets four conditions, and all four have to be met before a support to an NDIS participant is GST-free. This guide puts them in plain words, covers the written agreement, the A$75,000 registration threshold, mixed invoices and subcontract work, and shows how to mark items GST-free in Invio.

No credit card required - 5 free invoices a month. Read from ndis.gov.au and ato.gov.au on 12 October 2026. General information, not tax or legal advice.

The short answer

The ATO's page on NDIS supplies opens: "If you are a supplier of disability supports and registered for GST, your supplies to a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participant may be GST-free." The word is may. It depends on the conditions below.

If you are registered for GST

A support to a participant is GST-free only if all four conditions are met. The ATO says a registered business's sales are taxable unless they are GST-free or input-taxed, so a support that misses a condition is taxable.

If you are not registered

The ATO's NDIS page is written for suppliers who are registered. You must register once your GST turnover reaches A$75,000, and GST-free sales are not among the things the ATO takes off when it works that figure out (see the threshold below).

On one invoice

Support beyond the time or quantity in the participant's plan is not GST-free, and work you do as a subcontractor is taxable. So one invoice can hold both kinds of line.

Sources: ATO, National Disability Insurance Scheme, ATO, When to charge GST, ATO, Registering for GST, checked 12 October 2026.

The four conditions, in plain words

A supply to a participant is GST-free if all of these are met. If one is missing, the supply is not GST-free.

A plan in effect

The participant's NDIS plan must be in effect under section 37 of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013. The plan stops being in effect when it is replaced by another plan, or when the person stops being a participant.

Reasonable and necessary supports

The supply is of reasonable and necessary supports specified in the statement of supports in the participant's plan. Where the plan specifies an amount such as time or quantity, supplies in excess of it are not GST-free.

A written agreement

There is a written agreement between you and the participant, or another person such as the plan manager. What it must say is in the next section.

Covered by the Determination

The supply is covered by one of the tables in the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) (GST free Supply - National Disability Insurance Scheme Supports) Determination 2021. More on it below.

Sources: ATO, National Disability Insurance Scheme, checked 12 October 2026.

The written agreement

The ATO says the written agreement must do two things, and may be several documents.

It identifies the participant

The agreement must identify the NDIS participant.

It says the supply is a plan support

It must state that the supply is of one or more of the reasonable and necessary supports specified in the statement in the participant's plan.

It can be with someone else

The ATO says it can be between you and a person other than the participant, including the person who manages the plan and funding: the NDIA, a registered plan management provider, or a guardian or relative.

It can be several documents

A single document or a combination, such as letters between you and the other party and receipts or invoices you issue. It may be in electronic form. The ATO gives examples where an email and two letters together satisfy it, and where one of them alone would not.

What matters

The ATO's test: written evidence of a legally binding obligation for you to make the supply, and that it is a reasonable and necessary support as specified in the participant's plan.

This is a tax test, and it is separate from the NDIS service agreement, which the NDIS recommends but does not require in most cases (see service agreements). A service agreement can be part of the evidence; what counts for the ATO is what the documents say, not what they are called.

Sources: ATO, National Disability Insurance Scheme, NDIS, What is a service agreement, checked 12 October 2026.

The Determination, and its end date

The fourth condition is a list. The ATO says the NDIS Determination has two tables.

Table 1

Supplies of supports that are GST-free. If your supply is covered by an item in Table 1, the requirement to be covered by the Determination is met.

Table 2

Supplies the Determination covers only if they are also covered by one of three other determinations (the ATO names them: the Care, Residential Care and Health Services determinations). The ATO lists both tables with examples; read the page for your support.

The dates

The ATO says: "The NDIS Determination applies to supplies made on or after 1 July 2021 but before 1 July 2027." The page does not say what applies to supplies made after that date, so check the ATO page before you rely on this guide for work after 30 June 2027.

Sources: ATO, National Disability Insurance Scheme, checked 12 October 2026.

The A$75,000 threshold counts GST-free sales

The ATO says you must register for GST when your business has a GST turnover of A$75,000 or more.

The ATO defines GST turnover as your total business income (not your profit) minus a short list: GST included in sales to your customers, sales to associates that are not for payment and not taxable, sales not connected with an enterprise you run, input-taxed sales, and sales not connected with Australia. GST-free sales are not on that list, so they count toward the A$75,000.

It is measured two ways, and either one is enough: your current GST turnover (this month and the previous 11 months), or your projected GST turnover (this month and the next 11). The ATO says to check each month, and that once you are required to register you have 21 days to do it. You need an ABN first.

If you do not register when you are required to, the ATO says you may have to pay GST on sales made since the date you were required to register, even if you did not include GST in the price, and you may also have to pay penalties and interest.

Sources: ATO, Registering for GST, checked 12 October 2026.

Mixed invoices, plan managers and subcontract work

A mixed invoice

The ATO says a tax invoice that includes taxable and non-taxable items must clearly show which items are taxable. Non-taxable means GST-free or input-taxed. It must also show each taxable sale, the amount of GST to be paid and the total amount to be paid.

Invoicing the plan manager

The ATO says that under normal circumstances, supplies of NDIS supports are made to the participant, not to the plan manager. In its example, a worker invoices the plan manager directly, the plan manager pays on the participant's behalf, and the worker's supply to the participant is GST-free because the conditions are met.

Working for another provider

In the ATO's example, contractors engaged by a provider make a separate supply to that provider. That provider is not a participant, so the contractors' supply is not GST-free under the NDIS rule and is instead taxable, provided the usual requirements for a taxable sale are met.

Maximum prices

The Pricing Schedule 2026-27 says any maximum amount in it already includes any GST. Where GST applies, it comes out of the maximum; it is not added on top.

Sources: ATO, Tax invoices, ATO, National Disability Insurance Scheme, Pricing Schedule 2026-27, checked 12 October 2026.

Marking items GST-free in Invio

This is what the software does. Whether a support is GST-free is for you and your adviser, using the ATO's conditions above.

Mark a line GST-free

If you are registered for GST, choose "Mark items as GST-free" on the invoice, then tick the lines, or "All items GST-free". Items marked GST-free carry no GST. GST applies to all other items.

One invoice can mix both

Each GST-free line is marked, the totals show the GST-free amount on its own row, and a short note under the totals says which lines carry no GST. When every line is GST-free, GST shows as nil.

Set it once for a participant

Switch on "GST-free by default" on the participant's record in Clients. New invoices and quotes for them start with every item marked, and you can change any item before you send. Do not use it for work you do as a subcontractor for another provider: that work is usually taxable.

The call is yours

Invio never decides what is GST-free: it marks an item only because you did, or because you switched on "GST-free by default" for that participant. It does not check the participant's plan, your written agreement or the Determination. You decide, with your adviser.

A reminder before you send

With support worker invoicing on, a business registered for GST sees a short note before sending if GST is added to every priced item and none is marked; it points at the ATO's conditions. It does not mark anything for you, and it never stops you sending.

If you are not registered for GST

Invio works as it is: the heading reads "INVOICE" and no GST is charged.

Questions about NDIS supports and GST

Are NDIS supports always GST-free?

No. The ATO says a supply to a participant is GST-free if all four conditions are met: a plan in effect, reasonable and necessary supports specified in the plan, a written agreement, and a supply covered by the NDIS Determination. If one is missing, it is not GST-free.

Do GST-free sales count toward the A$75,000 registration threshold?

Yes. The ATO defines GST turnover as total business income minus a short list of things, and GST-free sales are not on that list. The threshold is A$75,000 or more, and you have 21 days to register once you are required to.

What happens to the GST-free rule on 1 July 2027?

The ATO says the NDIS Determination applies to supplies made on or after 1 July 2021 but before 1 July 2027. Its page does not say what applies after that, so check the ATO before you rely on GST-free treatment for later work.

Does invoicing a plan manager change the GST?

The ATO says supplies of NDIS supports are made to the participant, not to the plan manager, and gives an example where invoices sent directly to the plan manager are still for GST-free supplies because the conditions are met.

I work for another provider. Is my work GST-free?

In the ATO's example, a contractor's supply to a provider is not GST-free under the NDIS rule, because the provider is not a participant. It is taxable if the usual requirements are met. Ask your adviser about your own arrangement.

Does Invio decide what is GST-free?

No. You decide, with your adviser. Invio does not check the participant's plan, the written agreement or the Determination, and it does not mark anything GST-free on its own.

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