Do I have to pay tax on side-hustle income in Australia?

If the activity is a business, a sole trader reports its income and deductions in their individual tax return. The net profit is assessed with salary and other income. A genuine hobby is treated differently, but no dollar amount automatically decides whether an activity is a hobby or business. Profit intention, repetition, scale and how the activity is run all matter.

When does a side hustle need to register for GST?

An ordinary for-profit business generally must register when projected GST turnover for the current month and next 11 months is likely to reach $75,000. The test uses turnover before business costs. It does not use profit or a July-to-June total. Registration is generally due within 21 days once required. Taxi, limousine and ride-sourcing services register regardless of turnover.

Do I need an ABN for a side hustle under $75,000?

The $75,000 figure is a GST threshold. A person carrying on an enterprise may be entitled to an ABN much earlier. An ABN is needed to register for GST and identifies the business on invoices. Without one, a business customer may have to withhold 47% unless an exception applies. A hobby is not entitled to an ABN simply because it earns some money.

How much tax should I set aside for a side hustle?

Estimate the extra assessment created when net business profit is added to your other income. A flat percentage of sales can be misleading because costs reduce profit and your employment income changes the tax rate that applies. The reserve may include income tax, Medicare, HELP and the Medicare Levy Surcharge. Keep GST collected in a separate reserve.

Can I claim side-hustle expenses as tax deductions?

A business can generally deduct costs connected with earning its assessable income, subject to the tax rules. Exclude or apportion private use and keep supporting records. Equipment and other capital items may need depreciation instead of an immediate deduction. If you claim a GST credit, the income-tax deduction normally uses the remaining cost.

Does a sole trader have to pay themselves super?

A self-employed sole trader or partner does not have to pay Super Guarantee for themselves. They can choose to make personal contributions. A deductible contribution needs a valid notice of intent and uses the same concessional cap as employer contributions and salary sacrifice. Some individual contractors may still be entitled to super from the business paying them.

What happens if I cannot add GST to my prices?

If a registered business keeps its customer price at $100, that price contains $9.09 of GST and leaves $90.91 as sales revenue before costs. Eligible GST credits may reduce the BAS payment, but absorbing GST still cuts revenue compared with adding it to the old price. Review contracts and advertised prices before registration starts.

Business & Tax

Side Hustle Tax in Australia: GST, Income Tax and Super

Enter your salary, sales and business costs to estimate the GST and tax to put aside, then see how much cash is left before or after personal super.

Updated 2 August 202611 min read2026-27 rates · figures computed from published ATO rates

Start with the profit left after business costs, separate GST if your rolling turnover is likely to reach $75,000, and estimate tax using your employment income and other income. A genuine sole trader can also choose how much to put into super. Enter your numbers below to see what needs to stay aside and what is left to use.

Calculate what to put aside

Enter your employment income, rolling sales and deductible running costs. The result separates GST, estimates the extra personal tax caused by the business and shows cash left before and after an optional personal super contribution.

Side-hustle tax, GST and super calculator

Ordinary sole-trader taxable sales · 2026–27 resident rates

Interactive

Employment income

Current rolling turnover

Current month plus the previous 11, excluding GST already charged

Projected sales at current prices

Current month plus the next 11, before the modelled registration price change

Deductible running costs

Cash paid including GST; excludes capital items and private use

Taxi or ride-sourcing

These services register regardless of turnover

Apply GST in the projection

Model the post-registration price, output GST and eligible purchase credits

Pricing after registration

Costs eligible for GST credits80%

HELP or other study loan

Business profit is included in repayment income

Hospital cover all year

Appropriate private patient hospital cover

Eligible for the small-business tax offset

Turn off for personal services income unless it is from a personal services business

Personal super benchmark12% of profit

Current age35

Projection runs to age 67

GST position

Registration required

106.7% of the $75,000 projected-turnover threshold

Business profit

$65,164

Sales excluding GST, less deductible costs net of modelled GST credits

Tax reserve

$20,494

31.4% of positive profit for incremental income tax, Medicare, HELP and MLS

Cash after tax

$44,670

Before voluntary personal super; GST has already been separated

Cash-flow waterfall

Customer receipts: $88,000
Running costs paid: −$16,000
Net GST for the ATO: −$6,836
Income tax, Medicare, HELP and MLS: −$17,444
Personal super (12% benchmark): −$7,820
Cash left after modelled reserves: $39,900

Personal super contribution

Benchmark contribution: $7,820
Amount inside base cap: $7,820
15% contributions tax: −$1,173
Net credited to super: $6,647
Estimated personal tax saved: $3,050
Net current cash cost: −$4,770
Extra at 67 if repeated yearly: $625,818

Projection holds current rules and the dollar contribution constant, uses the engine's 7.5% gross return and 0.85% investment fee assumptions, applies fund taxes, and is not a forecast. Employer SG from the main job already uses $9,600 of the $32,500 base concessional cap.

Increment caused by the business	No personal super	With personal super
Income tax before small-business offset	$20,191	$17,297
Small-business tax offset	−$1,000	−$1,000
Medicare levy	$1,303	$1,147
Total assessment reserve	$20,494	$17,444

Scope: Australian resident, sole trader, full-year employment, ordinary taxable sales, single MLS thresholds and immediately deductible running costs. Projected sales are the amount customers would pay at current pre-registration prices; the add/absorb choice then models the registration change. The model does not classify hobby/business or employee/contractor status, calculate depreciation, apply non-commercial loss or PSI rules, model family MLS income, or replace a BAS or tax return.

From sales to cash you can use

Say you earn $60,000 from employment and your side business makes $50,000 of sales. After $10,000 of deductible running costs, the business profit is $40,000.

The 2026–27 estimate puts about $11,900 aside for tax. That leaves roughly $28,100 after costs and tax. The $50,000 collected from customers was never the amount available to spend.

Costs turn sales into profit

Income tax starts with net business profit: business income less deductions the tax rules allow. Private use must be left out, and equipment may need to be depreciated instead of claimed as an immediate running cost. A loss also needs separate treatment because the non-commercial loss rules may stop it from reducing employment income straight away.

GST has its own calculation

The example is below the ordinary GST threshold. Once registration applies, GST collected on taxable sales is reduced by eligible GST credits and reported on a business activity statement. The calculator removes that net GST before working out profit and cash left.

Tax depends on the income you already have

A sole trader reports the business result in their individual return. The profit joins salary, interest and other income, so it can fall into a higher tax bracket than the salary beneath it. Employment payroll usually cannot see the business profit, which is why the first assessment can produce a bill.

Super is a separate choice

A self-employed sole trader does not have to pay Super Guarantee for themselves. The calculator uses an editable percentage of profit to make the choice visible. Before claiming a deduction for a personal contribution, check the contributions already made through your main job and the concessional cap available to you.

Does your side hustle count as a business?

There is no income amount that automatically turns a hobby into a business. The$75,000 figure belongs to GST registration. It does not decide whether the activity itself is a business.

The signs of a business include:

you intend to make a profit, even if the early months make a loss;
the work is repeated and run at a commercial scale; and
you plan, price, market and keep records in a businesslike way.

No single sign settles the answer. An occasional sale made for enjoyment may remain a hobby, while regular consulting, photography, online selling or repair work can be a business alongside a full-time job.

When an ABN fits

A sole trader uses their individual TFN for their tax return. An Australian Business Number is a separate identifier for business dealings and is needed before registering for GST. There is no $75,000 ABN threshold. A business may need or choose to obtain one much earlier, while a hobby is not entitled to an ABN simply because money changes hands.

Quoting an ABN also stops a business customer from applying the 47% no-ABN withholding rule unless an exception applies. Registering is free through the Australian Business Register.

An ABN does not settle your worker status

You are not entitled to an ABN for work performed as an employee. Some individual contractors are also treated as employees for super when a contract is mainly for their personal labour. An invoice and an ABN do not decide either question.

Watch GST before turnover reaches $75,000

An ordinary for-profit business generally has to register when its projected GST turnover is likely to reach $75,000. GST turnover is broadly relevant business sales before costs over a rolling 12-month window.

Check both rolling figures each month:

Current GST turnover covers the current month and the previous 11 months.
Projected GST turnover covers the current month and the next 11 months that are likely on reasonable evidence.

A steady $6,250 a month reaches a $75,000 annual pace. If projected turnover is likely to reach the threshold, registration is generally due within 21 days. When current turnover is already at least $75,000 but projected turnover is genuinely lower, ATO guidance provides an exception. Keep the evidence behind a permanent reduction or closure.

GST-free sales generally count towards the test. Input-taxed sales and GST already included in prices do not. Sales of capital assets and sales caused only by closing or permanently shrinking the business are left out of projected turnover. Several ventures run by the same entity share one threshold.

Ride-sourcing starts GST from the first fare

Taxi, limousine and ride-sourcing services must register regardless of turnover. Other app-based work such as delivery and freelancing follows its ordinary GST treatment.

Adding GST and absorbing GST produce different results

If you add GST to a $100 service, the customer pays $110. The business keeps $100 as sales revenue and holds $10 as GST before credits.

If the customer still pays $100, the price contains $9 of GST and sales revenue falls to $91. GST is one-eleventh of a GST-inclusive price. A business selling mainly to consumers may feel this margin reduction more sharply because those customers cannot claim a GST credit.

Eligible business purchases can reduce the GST paid on a BAS. There is no credit where the supplier did not charge GST, for wages or for the private-use share of a purchase. The related income-tax deduction normally uses the cost after any GST credit.

Late registration can make GST your cost

GST can still be payable from the date registration should have started even if old invoices did not add it. Checking the rolling figures early gives you time to update contracts and prices before registration starts.

Why the tax reserve changes

The same business profit can create different tax bills. A person earning $60,000 from employment has different tax brackets and income-test results from someone earning $120,000 before the business profit is added.

The estimate can include income tax, the Medicare levy, a compulsory HELP repayment and the Medicare Levy Surcharge when appropriate hospital cover is missing. Eligible unincorporated small businesses may also receive the small-business income tax offset. The ATO works it out from the return at 16% of the relevant tax, capped at $1,000 a year.

The first bill arrives before PAYG catches up

Customers do not usually withhold personal tax from a sole trader's invoices. After a tax return shows enough business or investment income, the ATO may place you into PAYG instalments. Those instalments prepay income tax during the year and are credited in the next assessment. They are separate from GST reported on a BAS.

What common salaries and turnover leave after tax

The live table changes employment income and side-business turnover while keeping the operating assumptions fixed. Follow a row across to see how turnover drives the GST position and employment income changes the tax reserve on the same business profit.

Employment income	Side turnover	Profit after costs	GST	Tax reserve	Cash after tax
$60,000	$20,000	$16,000	Below threshold	$4,791	$11,209
$60,000	$50,000	$40,000	Below threshold	$11,915	$28,085
$60,000	$80,000	$65,164	Register	$19,967	$45,196
$60,000	$120,000	$97,745	Register	$31,916	$65,830
$90,000	$20,000	$16,000	Below threshold	$4,583	$11,417
$90,000	$50,000	$40,000	Below threshold	$11,800	$28,200
$90,000	$80,000	$65,164	Register	$21,194	$43,970
$90,000	$120,000	$97,745	Register	$33,901	$63,845
$120,000	$20,000	$16,000	Below threshold	$4,532	$11,468
$120,000	$50,000	$40,000	Below threshold	$13,480	$26,520
$120,000	$80,000	$65,164	Register	$23,294	$41,870
$120,000	$120,000	$97,745	Register	$38,140	$59,605

2026–27 estimates. Cash after tax is before any personal super contribution.

Assumptions behind the table

The table uses ordinary taxable sole-trader sales and running costs equal to 20% of turnover. It assumes 80% of those costs qualify for GST credits, GST is added to current prices once projected turnover reaches $75,000, and the person has appropriate hospital cover and no HELP debt. It includes the eligible small-business income tax offset and the automatic $1,000 work-related deduction used by the employment income calculator. The tax reserve is the extra income tax, Medicare and any surcharge caused by the business.

Registered rows assume GST is added to current prices. If your customer-facing price has to stay fixed, use the calculator and select the option to absorb GST. Profit and cash left will both be lower.

Keep the next bill out of your spending money

Give each amount somewhere to go before customer receipts start to feel like available cash.

Record sales and costs. Keep invoices, receipts and the business-use calculation for mixed expenses.
Check GST turnover monthly. Save the current and projected rolling figures with the forecast behind them.
Move GST out of reach. Once registered, separate GST collected and reconcile it against supported credits for the BAS.
Reserve tax from profit. Update the estimate after a large expense, a change in employment income or a change to HELP or hospital cover.
Make super a deliberate choice. Check employer contributions and cap room before transferring the money.

If you plan to claim a deduction for personal super

Give your fund a valid notice of intent and receive its acknowledgment before claiming the deduction. Employer Super Guarantee, salary sacrifice and deductible personal contributions all use the same concessional cap.

The deduction reduces taxable income, but the contribution is reportable and is added back for HELP repayment income and the Medicare Levy Surcharge income test. Money contributed to super is also generally unavailable until you meet a condition of release.

Common questions

Sources and assumptions

Every figure on this page is computed for the 2026-27 financial year using the rates and thresholds published by the sources below, and was last regenerated on 2 August 2026. Rates change each year; check the source before relying on a number.

Supporting tax and super sources