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CSV: every Australian QuickBooks GST code, its rate, whether it is a sales or purchase code, and when to use it.
Download the GST code list (CSV)QuickBooks Online Australia ships with its own set of GST codes, split into sales codes and purchase codes, and picking the right one is where bookkeeping goes wrong, because the correct code follows the supply and the side of the transaction. This reference lists every Australian GST code as QuickBooks names it, with its rate, whether it is a sales or purchase code, and when to use it.
The download is a single sheet: the QuickBooks GST code, its rate, the side it applies to, and what to use it for.
Sales codes and purchase codes are separate lists
This is the structural point to grasp first. When you set up GST, QuickBooks Online generates two sets of codes. Sales forms use GST, GST free, GST free export, and Input tax. Purchase forms use GST on non-capital, GST on capital, GST-free non-capital, GST-free capital, and Input tax. Out of Scope applies to both. QuickBooks works out the direction from the form, so you choose the code that matches the side you are on, which is unlike software that uses one standard code for both directions.
The codes QuickBooks gives you
- GST (sales) and GST on non-capital (purchases): the standard 10%, on most sales and most purchases.
- GST on capital (purchases): 10% on capital and asset purchases, so they report at the capital acquisitions label on the BAS.
- GST free (sales) and GST-free non-capital (purchases): 0%, for basic food, medical, education, and similar supplies.
- GST-free capital (purchases): 0% on capital items that are GST-free.
- GST free export (sales): 0% on exported goods and services.
- Input tax: input-taxed supplies (financial services, residential rent) and the costs related to them, on both sides.
- Out of Scope: outside the GST system entirely, for wages, superannuation, ATO payments, and transfers.
The capital split, and why it matters
A genuinely Australian feature is the capital versus non-capital distinction. The BAS separates GST on capital acquisitions from GST on other purchases, and QuickBooks mirrors it with two purchase codes. Code equipment, vehicles, and other assets to GST on capital and everyday running costs to GST on non-capital, and the amounts land at the right labels without a manual reclassification at BAS time.
The two that catch people out
- Input tax is not Out of Scope. Input tax is for input-taxed supplies that block the credit but still sit in your GST accounting, such as bank fees and residential rent. Out of Scope is for items entirely outside GST, such as wages and transfers. Coding a bank fee Out of Scope when it should be Input tax misstates the position.
- No default import code. The system-generated set has no dedicated import code. Import GST on consignments over A$1,000 is paid at the border and recorded from the import declaration, and any extra codes (luxury car tax, a custom import code) are added in the GST centre.
The code is a default that prefills the line
QuickBooks lets you assign a default GST code to each chart-of-accounts account, in bulk, and that default prefills the transaction line. You can override the code on any line when a transaction needs a different treatment, which is why a good chart pairs a default with the allowed alternatives. Note that the chart-of-accounts import does not carry GST codes, so you assign them after importing the structure.
How to use the reference
- Find the nature of the supply, and whether the line is a sale or a purchase.
- Match it to the QuickBooks code on the right side, remembering capital purchases use GST on capital.
- For input-taxed supplies use Input tax, not Out of Scope; for genuinely out-of-scope items use Out of Scope.
- Pair this with the Australian chart of accounts for QuickBooks, whose CSV maps each account to its code for bulk-assigning.
Getting codes right on every transaction by hand is the work software removes. ExpenseFlow reads each receipt and tax invoice, applies the correct QuickBooks GST code for the supply including the capital and input-taxed cases, and posts it into QuickBooks Online with the source attached, so the code is right at capture. Dext and Hubdoc also extract GST from documents as they arrive.
On Xero? See the Australian GST codes in Xero reference.