Do Flights Have GST In Australia? Full Guide

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gst and international travel what australian businesses need to know

Updated for the 2026–27 financial year

Here is the short answer. International flights to or from Australia are GST free, so there is no GST included in the fare and nothing to claim back. Domestic flights generally carry GST at the standard Australian rate of 10%, although a domestic leg can be GST free when it is part of an international journey. If your business is registered for GST, you can usually claim back the GST on a taxable domestic flight used for business as an input tax credit.

Do flights have GST in Australia?

Whether a flight includes GST depends on where it goes and how it was booked.

  • International flights and voyages, including those that start or finish overseas, are GST free.
  • Domestic flights are generally taxable at the standard 10% rate unless they form part of an international journey.
  • A domestic leg booked together with, or cross referenced to, an international ticket can be GST free.

This matters because GST free means no GST is charged at all. There is nothing to claim back on an international flight, so trying to claim a GST credit on it would be a mistake. On a taxable domestic flight, a registered business can claim the GST back, but only if the usual conditions are met.

In this guide

Are international flights GST free?

Yes. International air and sea transport to or from Australia is GST free. That means there is no GST built into the price of the fare and there is nothing for a business to claim back.

This treatment is set out in the ATO guidance on GST and international travel. International transport is GST free when it is sold to passengers travelling to or from Australia by air or sea. A return flight from Sydney to London supplied as air travel is GST free.

The directional rules for travel to and from Australia

International transport is GST free where:

  • The last place of departure in Australia is to a destination outside Australia.
  • It is from a place outside Australia to the first place of arrival in Australia.
  • It is from a place outside Australia to the same or another place outside Australia.

Example. An Australian resident books a return flight from Sydney to London. The whole air fare is GST free because the journey departs Australia for a destination overseas and returns from overseas to Australia. There is no GST in the ticket price.

Overseas tours, car hire and services booked in Australia

The GST free treatment is not limited to the flight itself. Transport booked within Australia for travel outside Australia is GST free. This includes coach tours, train transport, hire cars and ferry passages used overseas. Services booked within Australia for use overseas, such as accommodation and car hire abroad, are also GST free.

In short, if you arrange travel here in Australia that will be used overseas, that arrangement is generally GST free.

Do domestic flights have GST?

Domestic flights are generally taxable. Where a domestic leg of a trip, such as Brisbane to Sydney, does not form part of an international journey, GST applies at the standard 10% rate.

Other domestic travel is treated the same way. Taxi fares, ride sharing services and intercity bus services are all subject to GST. The standard 10% rate has applied to most goods and services since GST was introduced in Australia in July 2000, and it has never changed since.

When a domestic flight is GST free as part of an international trip

There is an important exception. A domestic air leg can be sold GST free to an Australian resident if it is part of an itinerary or arrangement leading to international air transport. In practice, the domestic flight is GST free if it formed part of, or was cross referenced to, a ticket for international air transport when the arrangement was made.

This still applies if the domestic flights are booked separately, as long as they are cross referenced to the international flights. The key is that the domestic flight was booked or committed to as part of the international arrangement.

Example. An Australian resident books a flight from Hobart to Sydney to connect with an international flight from Sydney to Tokyo, and both are arranged together. The Hobart to Sydney leg is GST free because it is part of the arrangement leading to international air transport. If that same person later books a separate Hobart to Sydney flight for an unrelated weekend trip, that flight carries GST at 10%.

Relevant ATO guidance includes GSTR 2025/2 and the tourism and hospitality industry issues register, which deals with the treatment of the domestic leg of an international flight.

Domestic sea legs and the same supplier rule

Domestic sea transport works a little differently. A domestic sea leg is wholly GST free for an Australian resident only when it is part of a journey from Australia to a destination outside Australia, or from outside Australia to Australia, and the transport is provided by the same supplier who carries the passenger internationally.

If the domestic sea leg is provided by a different carrier from the supplier transporting the passenger overseas, GST applies to that domestic leg.

Can you claim GST on flight tickets?

This is where people often go wrong, so it helps to separate the two cases.

  • International flights are GST free, which means no GST was charged in the first place. There is nothing to claim back. You should not report a GST credit on a GST free fare.
  • Domestic flights that carry GST can be claimed back as an input tax credit by a GST registered business, provided the trip was for business and the usual conditions are met.

If you pay GST on domestic transport, or on related costs such as accommodation or meals during a business trip, you may be able to claim those input tax credits to reduce the net GST you owe.

Conditions for claiming an input tax credit on travel

To claim an input tax credit on travel, you need to satisfy all of the following:

  • Your business is registered for GST.
  • The services were acquired for business purposes.
  • You hold a valid tax invoice for each expense.

Some things are excluded. Services that are input taxed, or not connected with your enterprise, are generally not claimable. Common errors include claiming on employee fringe benefits or recording personal travel as business use.

Records you need to support a travel GST claim

Good records protect your claim if the ATO ever reviews it. Generally, you must hold a tax invoice to claim an input tax credit in your Business Activity Statement, and your documentation should clearly show the nature of the supply, especially where international travel is involved.

There is one practical exception. You do not need a tax invoice if the value of the taxable supply is $75 or less, which for most supplies corresponds with a price of $82.50. Even where a tax invoice is not required, you should still keep records that support the claim.

How to code flights in accounting software and on your BAS

Coding flights correctly in your accounting software matters, because the wrong code can cost you a credit or misreport your BAS. There is an important difference between GST free and BAS Excluded.

  • GST free supplies do not attract GST, but they still appear on your BAS as GST free sales or purchases, reported at 0%. International flights fall here.
  • BAS Excluded transactions do not belong anywhere on your BAS and are not part of your GST calculation at all. Examples include wages, superannuation, owner drawings and bank transfers.

So an international flight should be coded as GST free, not BAS Excluded. A taxable domestic flight should be coded with standard 10% GST so you capture the credit.

The biggest trap is coding a supplier invoice that includes GST as BAS Excluded. If you do that, you miss out on GST credits you could legitimately claim. For a fuller explanation of how this label works, the team at Sprintlaw has a helpful overview of what BAS Excluded means in Australia.

GST on travel agent booking fees and commissions

If you arrange travel for others, the GST treatment of your fee usually follows the travel.

  • If a sale is for GST free travel, the travel agent’s commission for arranging it is also GST free.
  • If the sale is taxable domestic travel, the fee or commission carries GST.
  • If you provide a combination of taxable sales and GST free sales, the GST on your commissions must be apportioned between the two.

Apportionment simply means splitting your fee so that the GST free portion stays GST free and the taxable portion has GST applied. Clean invoicing makes this much easier to manage.

Disbursements: passing on flight costs to clients

When a business or agent invoices an international flight on behalf of a client, the GST free nature of the flight should be preserved. The flight does not magically become taxable just because it passes through your invoice.

Where your invoice includes both a taxable supply and a supply that is GST free or input taxed, the GST rules on tax invoices require the document to clearly identify each taxable supply, show the total amount of GST payable, and show the total amount payable. The GST Act does not allow the price of one supply to be reduced by the price of another, so each component is shown on its own merits. The detailed rules are set out in the ATO ruling on tax invoices.

Remember too that you must issue a tax invoice for a taxable supply within 28 days of a request by the recipient.

GST on accommodation booked through platforms like Booking.com

Australian accommodation is generally taxable, even when it is booked by a non resident or sits alongside an international flight in the same itinerary. Domestic accommodation arranged by an inbound tour operator in Australia is generally taxable too, even where it is booked by a non resident.

There are also specific rules for offshore sellers. Offshore accommodation sellers who sell more than $75,000 worth of Australian accommodation per annum must register for GST, with these rules applying to sales made after 1 July 2019. Once registered, they have the same obligations as Australian businesses, including providing tax invoices when asked and reporting their GST. You can read more about the GST rules for online travel agencies selling Australian accommodation.

Travel within Australia booked by overseas visitors

Air travel within Australia can be GST free for non residents, but only in certain circumstances.

  • Domestic air travel is GST free for a non resident if they are outside Australia when they buy it.
  • Travel within Australia is GST free for a non resident when it is part of a package purchased while they are overseas, including where an Australian based intermediary arranges it as part of that overseas package.
  • A domestic air ticket bought by a non resident directly from a domestic airline after arriving in Australia, and not part of a package purchased overseas, will include GST.

Example. A visitor from overseas buys a Melbourne to Cairns flight as part of a holiday package arranged while they are still at home overseas. That domestic flight is GST free. If the same visitor lands in Australia and then books a separate Melbourne to Cairns flight directly with an airline, that ticket includes GST.

Domestic sea transport for non residents follows the same conditions that apply to Australian residents, including the same supplier rule covered earlier.

The Tourist Refund Scheme for departing travellers

Departing travellers and overseas visitors may be able to claim back the GST paid on eligible goods they take with them when they leave Australia. This is usually done at the airport before departure, by presenting the goods, the tax invoice and the relevant documentation.

The scheme applies to goods rather than to the GST free flights themselves, since international flights do not include GST in the first place. Conditions, time limits and minimum purchase requirements apply, so it is worth checking the current rules before you rely on a refund.

Australian GST is a single flat rate

If you have seen overseas search results mentioning rates like 12%, 15% or 28%, those are foreign consumption taxes and they do not apply to Australian airfares. Australia has a single GST rate of 10%, and it has been 10% ever since GST began in July 2000.

For Australian travel, the only question is whether a fare is taxable at 10% or GST free. There is no higher or lower domestic rate to worry about. If you want a quick sanity check on how the 10% rate is added or removed from a price, this overview of Australian GST rates sets out the simple maths.

Get your travel GST treatment right

The picture becomes clear once you separate the two main cases. International flights and voyages to or from Australia are GST free, so there is no GST in the price and nothing to claim back. Domestic flights generally carry GST at 10%, unless the domestic leg is genuinely part of an international arrangement, and a registered business can claim that GST back when the trip is for business and the records stack up.

From there, the practical points fall into place. Code international flights as GST free rather than BAS Excluded so you do not misreport your BAS. Match your agent fees and commissions to the travel they relate to, and apportion where a booking mixes taxable and GST free elements. Treat Australian accommodation as taxable even when it is bundled with an international flight. Keep clean tax invoices so your claims hold up.

If your situation involves a mix of domestic and international travel, agent commissions, disbursements or overseas clients, the right treatment is not always obvious. A short conversation can save you from lost credits or an unexpected GST bill, and give you confidence that your travel is coded correctly. Our friendly team at Tax Window is here to help you get it right.

Artur Osadchiy

About The Author: Artur Osadchiy

Artur is a Certified Practising Accountant with over 30 years’ experience working as a trusted advisor to 600+ clients across Australia. Based in Melbourne, he started Tax Window with his wife Marina in 2009 and leads the firm’s tax and accounting team. In his free time, Artur enjoys watching the AFL (go Kangas!) and spending time with family.

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