Ecommerce business expenses in New Zealand: the complete guide for online sellers

A New Zealand online seller’s ledger turns on two NZ$1,000 lines. Shipments of stock above it pay GST to Customs on the landed value, which you claim back from the Customs document rather than a supplier invoice. Low-value goods below it are taxed at the point of sale by overseas sellers and marketplaces when they go to consumers. Around those sit the offshore platforms and apps that should not charge your registered business GST, a 15% rate on everything you sell, and the $1,000 low-value asset write-off for the kit. This guide goes through the whole ledger, category by category, with a verdict for each one before the detail. Every figure is sourced to Inland Revenue or New Zealand Customs in the Sources section, retrieved 10 October 2026.

What this guide covers: stock and cost of sales, GST on imports and Customs documents, low value imported goods, offshore platform, app and ad fees, postage, packaging and fulfilment, equipment, bank and currency costs, staff and KiwiSaver, and the GST return, records and year-end work that tie it together.

The online seller’s ledger at a glance

The rest of this guide walks through each row, and every section opens with its verdict.

Where ExpenseFlow fits

An online seller’s purchase ledger is overseas supplier invoices, broker and freight bills, monthly platform statements, app subscriptions and ad spend, much of it in Australian or US dollars. ExpenseFlow captures each document (email forward, upload or phone), reads the line items, the currency and the GST, codes each line with a written reason, and routes anything uncertain to a person before it posts. Its ecommerce checks are built from the rules on this page: marketplace and payment-processor fees are coded as operating expenses, not cost of goods sold, and offshore-billed fees are flagged; an overseas goods supplier’s invoice is flagged because the GST claim comes from the Customs entry or broker statement; a foreign supplier’s local tax is flagged as not claimable in New Zealand; a bank or FX fee coded with GST is flagged as exempt; and any rate other than 15% is flagged. After approval the bill syncs to Xero with the source document attached, or to QuickBooks Online as a coded bill.

What it does not do: it does not reconcile marketplace payouts, value stock or file your GST return. The ecommerce chart of accounts for Xero and for QuickBooks line up with the categories below.

The ExpenseFlow for online sellers page covers these checks across all five countries.

Stock and cost of sales

Goods bought for resale, inbound freight, insurance and duty make up the landed cost of the stock. Selling costs, the platform’s cut, the processor’s fee and the courier, are operating expenses. Keep the import paperwork with the stock purchase: it carries both the cost and the GST claim.

GST on imports and Customs documents

Customs collects GST when goods are imported, charging it on the landed value including insurance, freight and duties ^[1] , and it does not collect duty or GST unless the item or shipment is over NZ$1,000, with orders from the same supplier arriving on the same day treated as a single shipment ^[2] . Documents issued by Customs, such as the import entry form C4, a deferred payment of duty statement or a broker account statement, support the GST credit, and you must hold them; do not include imported goods under purchases on the return ^[1] . On the invoice basis you claim the GST content as a credit adjustment, Box 13 on the paper return, for the period you receive the invoice or pay, whichever is earlier; on the payments or hybrid basis, for the period you pay ^[1] .

Low value imported goods

A low value good is a physical good valued at NZ$1,000 or less excluding GST, and since 1 December 2019 overseas merchants, online marketplaces and redeliverers selling such goods to New Zealand consumers may need to register for, collect and return GST; goods over NZ$1,000 have GST and duty charged at the border by Customs ^[3] . A consumer for this purpose is someone not registered for GST, or registered but using the goods privately ^[3] .

Offshore platform, app and ad fees

An overseas supplier does not need to register for GST if it only provides remote services to New Zealand businesses that are GST registered and use the services in the business, and it treats a New Zealand customer as unregistered unless the customer states it is registered or gives its GST number or NZBN ^[4] . Put your GST number into each platform’s tax settings; if an offshore platform charges you GST because it has you down as a consumer, that GST is not a credit you can claim from its invoice. Marketplace, processor, app and ad fees are deductible operating expenses.

Postage, packaging and fulfilment

Outbound delivery, third-party fulfilment and packaging are ordinary selling costs, and New Zealand suppliers charge GST at 15% on most supplies ^[5] .

Equipment

The low-value asset threshold has been $1,000 since 17 March 2021, measured on the price less GST for a registered business ^[6] . Separately, a new (or new-to-New Zealand) depreciable asset first available on or after 22 May 2025 qualifies for Investment Boost: 20% of its cost is deducted upfront and the remaining 80% is depreciated ^[11] . The equipment guide has the depreciation rates.

Bank fees, currency and interest

Financial services including interest, loans and bank fees are listed among exempt supplies, which are not subject to GST ^[7] . Payment processor and merchant fees are not bank fees; claim GST on them only where the statement shows it.

Staff and KiwiSaver

The adult minimum wage is $23.95 an hour from 1 April 2026 ^[8] , and the default employer KiwiSaver contribution rose to 3.5% on the same date, reaching 4% from 1 April 2028 ^[9] .

GST registration, records and year end

You must register once turnover reaches $60,000 in the last 12 months or is expected to in the next 12, or as soon as you add GST to your prices ^[10] . Hold the Customs entries and broker statements behind every import claim ^[1] , and keep business records for seven years, as the record-keeping guide sets out. The GST guide, GST return guide and year-end checklist cover the rest.

Common mistakes

• Claiming import GST from the overseas supplier’s invoice ^[1] .
• Putting imported goods in the purchases box instead of claiming the Customs GST as an adjustment ^[1] .
• Splitting same-day orders from one supplier to stay under NZ$1,000; Customs combines them ^[2] .
• Leaving your GST number out of offshore platforms’ settings and paying GST you cannot claim ^[4] .
• Coding bank and FX fees with GST ^[7] .
• Depreciating a $900 camera that could be written off ^[6] .