🐈
» Support » Product Release Notes » Upwork Charging GST for Australian Freelancer...
Page options

Upwork Charging GST for Australian Freelancers and Agencies

lenaellis
Community Member

Recently, Australia introduced a new law applying their Goods and Services Tax (GST) to international sales of services and digital products provided to Australian consumers. This change means that non-Australian businesses (like Upwork) will be required to collect GST on our sales to Australian users starting July 1, 2017.

 

As a result, we’re asking freelancers and agencies in Australia to do the following:

  1. Provide their Australian Business Number (ABN)
  2. Acknowledge they’re registered for GST

 

To provide your ABN number and acknowledge that you are registered for GST, go to Settings > Tax Information, or click here.

 

Users who provide their ABN and GST info to Upwork will not be charged GST by Upwork.

 

 

If you’re an Australian freelancer or agency and you’re not registered for GST or do not have an ABN, Upwork is required to charge the 10% GST on applicable Upwork fees (e.g. Upwork service fees, membership fees, and purchases of additional Connects) and report it to the Australian Taxation Office. These freelancers and agencies will see this GST charge as a separate amount on their Transaction History page and invoices from Upwork to you.

 

Here’s an example of how it would work:

 

Your contract amount

$100.00

Upwork service fee (20% x $100)

-$20.00

GST on the service fee (10% x $20)

-$2.00

Take home earnings after fees and GST

$78.00

 

 

For more information on applying for an ABN, see here

For more information on registering for GST, see here

For more information on our GST policy, please see the help article here.

 

If you have questions, let us know.

40 Comments
40edc1ab
Community Member

I agree that I would like to be able to add my ABN without registering for GST. 

 

I was advised by my business insurer that my insurance is tied to my ABN. I would like all my Upwork work to be covered by my insurer. 

 

I do not currently have to register for GST, and this is a legitimate reason for adding the capability for Australians to add an ABN without registering for GST. Since Upwork issues invoices to clients on my behalf, I'm unable to add my ABN to their invoice. 

cathryn_m
Community Member

So, we're entering our ABN where it says 'VAT ID'?? I don't see any of the questions people are referring to about being registered for GST...?

kochubei_valeria
Community Member

Hi Cathryn,

 

You should see a pop up asking you to enter your ABN and confirm you’re registered for GST when you log into your account on Upwork. Then you'll be able to access and edit it under Settings> Tax Information> GST.

detaildevil
Community Member

Hi Lena, I would also like an answer from Upwork regarding this issue. I (and I'm sure many freelancers) have ABNs, but do not have to register for GST because we don't earn enough.

 

I'm happy to confirm my ABN number, but I won't say I'm registered for GST, because I'm not.

 

Where does this leave us? Why should we be charged GST on our work when we're not registered for GST? It doesn't make any sense.

 

I hope this can be resolved soon.

 

Many thanks,

Pam

VladimirG
Community Manager

Hi Pam,

 

To clarify, we will not be charging GST on the amount paid from the client to freelancer. GST is only being assessed on services provided by us, as Lena described in her earlier post, not on services you provide your clients.


@Lena E wrote:

Hi Maria and Hayley,

 

We understand that you may not be required to register for GST because the income for your freelance business is below the threshold. However, to comply with the new Australian laws, Upwork has to collect GST on the services we provide. You are not required to register for GST to use Upwork, but by not being registered you will pay the 10% GST tax on services (e.g. the sliding service fee you pay when you earn on Upwork, the fee you pay for a Freelancer Plus membership (if you have one), and the cost of purchasing additional Connects). 

You can find more information on GST here to decided if it makes sense for you to sign up. 


 

yourpoorfriend
Community Member

GST registration is only mandatory for those people with high income, are they required to charge their clients GST for their services on Upwork? If not, then it is unfair to the low-income people, who need to pay more (the GST) while receiving less.

cupidmedia
Community Member

@Chau Woon M wrote:

GST registration is only mandatory for those people with high income, are they required to charge their clients GST for their services on Upwork? If not, then it is unfair to the low-income people, who need to pay more (the GST) while receiving less.


 It's not about fairness, it's about Upwork meeting their legal obligations. A whole bunch of services I get from the US (including Netflix, for example) had to recently increase their prices to cover this new legal requirement for companies providing services in Australia to pay GST. If you have a problem with it, you're complaining to the wrong people. Complain to your government representative.

kshama_w
Community Member

Hi,

 

Upwork charges GST even for freelancers who have updated their ABN and GST details in June 2017 on Upwork.

 

Attaching my ABN and GST details so everyone in the community can see that Upwork is not following the rules set by Australian Tax Office.

 

ABN and GST details are available on the Australian Government website so there is no excuse for Upwork to have not verified this when the same was shared a month ago.

 

Regards,

Kay

VladimirG
Community Manager

Hi Kshama,

 

Thanks for following the instructions I shared yesterday and submitting a support request. We recently learned that some freelancers were charged a Goods and Services Tax (GST) in error. Our team will review the information you provided and your account, and follow up with an update soon. It sounds like you should not have been charged this tax and I can assure you we'll get this amount refunded to you as soon as possible once our team confirms this is indeed the case. Thanks for your patience.

kshama_w
Community Member

Hi Vladimir,

 

I think you are confusing me with someone else.

 

1) I raised the request prior to posting a message on the community and only got your attention once I posted here.

 

2) What is "soon"? Can I get a date? I updated my details on 19th June 2017 - the SAME day I received an email from Upwork to update my details. I have waited for 25 days already!

 

3) I am not sure what is taking you so long to "review" my ABN and GST details as all you need to do is visit http://abr.business.gov.au/ and type my ABN number and click "search". This shows my name, my ABN and GST registration details.

 

Can anyone else in the community please help the Upwork team out here to verify my details as they are struggling to visit this website http://abr.business.gov.au/ since the last 25 days. Please click on the website and enter my ABN 66143749417 and you should see all my registration details. Anyone who has internet can visit this website, please do the same and copy paste the details you see here to help Upwork verify it.

 

This would really help me get the wrongly charged GST amount back! Thank you.