GST on Uber, Airbnb and Marketplace Sales
🚗 What changed on 1 April 2024
If you drive for a ride-share app, deliver food, or rent out a room or bach through a booking site, the way GST works on your earnings changed from 1 April 2024. Under New Zealand's platform economy rules, also called the GST on listed services rules, the online marketplace you sell through is now responsible for charging and collecting 15% GST on the service, rather than leaving it to each individual driver or host. This applies even if you personally are not registered for GST and earn well under the registration threshold. To keep things fair for people who cannot claim GST back on their costs, the marketplace passes a flat-rate credit of 8.5% back to sellers who are not GST-registered, and sends the rest to Inland Revenue. This guide explains who is affected, exactly how the 15% is split, the difference between being GST-registered and not, why income tax is a separate issue you still have to deal with, and how the $60,000 GST registration threshold fits in. Every rate and date below is checked against Inland Revenue's own guidance.
What counts as a "listed service"
The rules apply to a specific set of services, which Inland Revenue calls listed services. They are:
| Listed service | Typical examples |
|---|---|
| Ride-sharing | Uber, Ola, Zoomy and similar ride-hailing services |
| Food and beverage delivery | Uber Eats, DoorDash, Delivereasy and similar delivery services |
| Short-stay and visitor accommodation | Airbnb, Bookabach, Booking.com and similar short-stay booking sites |
The rules only cover the three categories above when they are booked through a marketplace. Long term residential renting to a tenant is an exempt supply and is not affected. Selling your own goods on your own website, or selling a used car privately, is not a listed service either. This guide is about services booked through ride-share, delivery and short-stay platforms.
Who is affected
The people directly affected are the underlying sellers, meaning the drivers, couriers and accommodation hosts who provide the service, plus the marketplace operators who now collect the GST. If you are a driver or an Airbnb host, the change affects the GST on your bookings even if nothing about your day-to-day work changed. The marketplace handles the GST mechanics, but you need to understand what you receive, what you can keep, and what you still owe income tax on.
The platform economy rules only deal with GST. Your driving, delivery or hosting income is still taxable income, and you still have to declare it and pay income tax on it. The flat-rate credit is not a tax-free bonus and it does not replace your income tax obligations. The two systems run side by side.
💵 How the 15% is split
The mechanics are easier to follow if you picture the 15% GST being divided into two parts: a piece that goes to Inland Revenue, and a piece that comes back to you if you are not GST-registered. Both parts are expressed as a percentage of the GST-exclusive value of the service.
Inland Revenue's own words on the seller page are: "From 1 April 2024, online marketplaces will collect GST at the standard 15% rate on listed services that are performed, provided or received in New Zealand. They will pay 6.5% to us and will pass on 8.5% to you." The 8.5% is the flat-rate credit.
Why the flat-rate credit exists
If you were GST-registered, you could claim back the GST you pay on your business costs, such as fuel, vehicle running costs, cleaning and supplies. Sellers who are not registered cannot make those claims. The 8.5% flat-rate credit is designed to approximate the GST hidden in a typical seller's costs, so that unregistered sellers are not left worse off now that GST is being charged on their services. Inland Revenue describes the 8.5% credit as being "for you to keep" and says it "recognises the GST on your costs from supplying listed services".
On a service worth $100 before GST, the customer is charged $115. The marketplace sends $6.50 to Inland Revenue and passes $8.50 back to an unregistered seller as the flat-rate credit. The seller keeps their $100 for the service plus the $8.50 credit. A GST-registered seller is treated differently, as the next section explains.
What the marketplace must tell you
Marketplaces have to keep sellers informed. At least once a month, a marketplace must tell each seller the total flat-rate credits it has passed on to them. To do this correctly, the marketplace needs to know whether each seller is GST-registered, so you may be asked to confirm your GST registration status and provide your GST number if you have one.
📋 Registered sellers versus unregistered sellers
How the rules affect you depends entirely on whether you are registered for GST. The flat-rate credit is only for sellers who are not registered. Registered sellers are treated in a different, more standard GST way.
| Feature | Not GST-registered | GST-registered |
|---|---|---|
| Does the marketplace collect 15%? | Yes | Yes |
| Do you get the 8.5% flat-rate credit? | Yes, and you keep it | No |
| How is the marketplace supply shown in your GST return? | You file no GST return | As a zero-rated supply |
| Can you claim GST on your costs? | No (the 8.5% credit stands in for this) | Yes, you claim input GST on expenses |
If you are not GST-registered
You do not have to do anything with GST returns. The marketplace collects the 15%, sends 6.5% to Inland Revenue, and passes 8.5% back to you as the flat-rate credit, which is yours to keep. You can choose whether to include that credit as assessable income in your income tax return. You still declare your earnings and pay income tax as normal.
If you are GST-registered
The treatment is different. Your supplies of listed services made through the marketplace are zero-rated in your own GST return, because the marketplace has already accounted for the GST. You do not receive the 8.5% flat-rate credit. Instead, you keep your normal ability to claim GST back on the costs of making those supplies. If a marketplace mistakenly passes you a flat-rate credit even though you are registered, you must return it to Inland Revenue by making a debit adjustment in your GST return.
Some GST-registered accommodation suppliers, particularly larger operators, can enter an opt-out agreement with a marketplace so that they, rather than the marketplace, account for the GST on their bookings. This is generally aimed at bigger or professional operators. If you think you might qualify to opt out, check the current rules with Inland Revenue or your accountant.
Once you register for GST you take on GST returns and record keeping, and it can affect other property or business activities you run. Registering to claim costs is not automatically worthwhile for a small side income. Weigh it up, and get advice before you register, because coming back out of GST can trigger GST on the assets you hold.
🧾 Income tax and the $60,000 threshold
The most common confusion with platform income is mixing up GST and income tax. They are two different taxes with two different rules, and you can be caught by one and not the other.
Income tax always applies
Whatever you earn from driving, delivering or hosting is taxable income, from the very first dollar. There is no minimum before income tax applies. If your platform income is your only income, or is on top of a salary, you generally declare it in an individual tax return (an IR3). You can deduct the costs of earning that income, such as a share of vehicle running costs for a driver, or cleaning, consumables and a share of rates and power for a host. Keeping good records of both income and expenses is essential.
If you are unregistered and keep the 8.5% flat-rate credit, you can choose whether to include it as assessable income. If you do include it as income, you can then claim your GST-inclusive costs as deductions. Whichever way you go, be consistent, and talk to your accountant if you are unsure.
The $60,000 GST registration threshold
GST registration in New Zealand is only compulsory once your turnover from your taxable activity is more than $60,000 in any 12-month period. Below that, registration is voluntary. For most casual drivers and occasional hosts who earn well under $60,000, this means they never need to register, and the flat-rate credit is exactly how the system is meant to work for them: the marketplace handles the GST and they keep the 8.5% credit.
If your hosting or driving grows, or you add more properties or vehicles, keep an eye on the $60,000 threshold across all of your taxable activity. Once you cross it you must register, your marketplace supplies become zero-rated in your GST return, and you stop receiving the flat-rate credit. Use a threshold calculator to check where you sit.
🔢 Worked New Zealand examples
These examples show how the split works in practice for different sellers. Figures are GST-exclusive earnings unless stated, and platform commission is left out to keep the GST clear.
Situation: Ari drives for Uber and earns $30,000 of fares over the year. He is well under the $60,000 threshold and is not GST-registered.
How the 15% is split on his year of fares
Ari files no GST return. He still declares his driving income for income tax and can deduct his running costs. The $2,550 credit is his to keep, and he chooses whether to include it as income (in which case he claims GST-inclusive costs as deductions).
Situation: Mia rents out a spare room and a sleepout on Airbnb, earning $25,000 for the year. She is not GST-registered and is under the $60,000 threshold.
The split on her hosting income
Mia does not register for GST because she is under $60,000. But her $25,000 of short-stay income is taxable, so she declares it in her tax return and can claim a share of her expenses, such as cleaning, linen, power and rates for the space she rents out.
Situation: Jordan runs several short-stay properties and earns $90,000 a year through Airbnb and Bookabach. Because this is over $60,000, he must register for GST.
How registration changes things
Claiming GST on his expenses
Because Jordan is registered, he cannot also keep the flat-rate credit. If a marketplace passes him one by mistake, he must return it to Inland Revenue with a debit adjustment in his GST return. Registered sellers claim real costs instead of the flat-rate credit.
Situation: Sam has a salaried job taxed through PAYE and delivers food part-time in the evenings, earning $12,000 a year from a delivery platform. He is not GST-registered.
His flat-rate credit
Sam's salary is already taxed through PAYE, but his $12,000 of delivery income is not. He declares the delivery income in an IR3 and pays income tax on it, on top of his salary. The flat-rate credit only sorts out GST, not his income tax.
Sources
Rates, dates and rules in this guide were checked in July 2026 against Inland Revenue's official guidance:
- Inland Revenue, "GST for drivers, deliverers and accommodation owners" and "GST for listed services" (15% collected, 6.5% to Inland Revenue, 8.5% flat-rate credit, from 1 April 2024), ird.govt.nz/sharing-economy
- Inland Revenue, "GST on listed services" and "GST obligations for marketplaces" (listed services definition, monthly reporting of credits, zero-rating for registered sellers, opt-out for accommodation), ird.govt.nz/sharing-economy/online-marketplaces
- Inland Revenue, GST registration threshold of $60,000 for a taxable activity in a 12-month period, ird.govt.nz
Note: the 15% GST rate, the 6.5% and 8.5% split, the 1 April 2024 start date and the $60,000 registration threshold are confirmed against Inland Revenue guidance. The flat-rate credit is set at 8.5%, based on the average input tax recovered by GST-registered sellers of listed services, and could be reviewed in future, so confirm the current figure with Inland Revenue. This guide is general information, not tax advice.
Related tools and guides
- GST Calculator - add or remove 15% GST from an amount
- Airbnb GST Threshold Calculator - check where your hosting sits against $60,000
- Airbnb Nightly Rate Calculator - work out a nightly rate
- Marketplace Selling Fees and GST Calculator
- How GST works
- GST registration for small business
🎯 Test Your Knowledge
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