Disbursement GST Calculator NZ
Plenty of invoices carry more than a fee. A designer pays for stock images, a consultant books a venue, a lawyer pays a filing fee, and each of those costs has to be passed to the client. For GST the question is not what the line is called but in what capacity you paid it. Inland Revenue's interpretation statement IS 21/01 draws the line: a cost you paid as the client's agent and are simply reimbursed for is not part of your supply, so no GST is added to it, while a cost you bought yourself and charge on to the client is part of what you supply and carries GST like your fee. This disbursement GST calculator puts both kinds on one invoice. You enter your fee, any disbursement paid as agent, any cost you bought as principal and on-charge, the markup you add to that cost, and whether you are GST registered. It gives the amount GST is charged on, the GST, the disbursement passed through at cost, and the invoice total, so the client is charged the right GST and you return the right GST. Whether a particular cost is a disbursement depends on the facts of your arrangement with the client, and the markup is your own commercial choice.
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Your Timesheets at jobtracker.co.nz logs your hours on a week grid or a timer that keeps counting when your phone locks, free on every plan. Career and Timesheets turns those hours into projects and rates, fixed fees and retainers, numbered invoices with GST only when you are registered, expenses and mileage, and the tax to set aside, from $4.99 a month billed yearly.
Log your hours freeWhether a cost is a disbursement depends on the facts of the arrangement with your client, not on what the invoice calls it. Inland Revenue's interpretation statement IS 21/01 explains how to tell.
How it works
The on-charged cost is billed at what you paid plus your markup. It is added to your fee, and that sum is the amount GST is charged on. If you are registered, GST is 15% of it; if you are not, there is no GST. The disbursement is then added at exactly what you paid on the client's behalf, with no GST, because as their agent you are passing on their cost rather than supplying something of your own. The invoice total is the fee, the on-charged cost, the GST and the disbursement added together.
Worked example
A GST-registered consultant invoices a $2,000 fee. They bought $150 of materials themselves and on-charge them with no markup, and they paid a $350 fee on the client's behalf as the client's agent. GST is charged on $2,150.00, the fee and the materials, which is $322.50. The $350.00 disbursement is added at cost, so the invoice total is $2,822.50. Had the $350 cost been bought as principal instead, it would carry GST as well: the GST would be $375.00 and the invoice $2,875.00, which is $52.50 more.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Fee | $2,000.00 |
| Materials bought as principal, on-charged at cost | $150.00 |
| Amount GST is charged on | $2,150.00 |
| GST at 15% | $322.50 |
| Disbursement paid as agent, no GST | $350.00 |
| Invoice total | $2,822.50 |
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