- Docket No. 0002
- Desk ATO · ABR
- Checked 08·10·2026
Checking a supplier is real
Before the first payment, look the supplier’s ABN up on ABN Lookup and check that the name and details on its invoice match the business you think you are dealing with. If a supplier quotes no ABN on a supply worth more than $75 before GST, the ATO says you generally have to withhold tax at the top rate from what you pay it.
This docket summarises the ATO’s pages on withholding from suppliers and tax invoices, and business.gov.au’s page on choosing suppliers. It describes the rules; the ATO suggests contacting it or a tax professional where you are unsure how they apply to you.
Field 1Three checks before the first order
business.gov.au suggests some basic checks before you sign with a supplier or place an order. Read what its other customers say, and ask the supplier for references from businesses it already deals with.
Search the Australian Business Register to confirm the business is registered. ABN Lookup is free and needs no login; it shows whether an ABN is active or cancelled, the type of business and whether it is registered for GST.
Search the Personal Property Securities Register, which business.gov.au points to as the way to see whether a supplier has put up the goods it is selling you as security for a debt.
Field 2What the number itself can tell you
The ATO’s position is that you don’t usually need to check an ABN a supplier gives you: if it looks reasonable, you can accept it. When something makes you doubt that the number is genuine, or that it belongs to the business quoting it, the ATO expects you to check. It lists the signs that should make you look twice:
- the number isn’t 11 digits, or it contains letters;
- it starts with a zero, which a real ABN never does;
- it runs in sequence, repeats, or follows some other odd pattern;
- the details on the invoice don’t fit the business you thought was supplying you, or the kind of goods or services you are getting.
A branch of a business can carry an extra three-digit number for GST or PAYG purposes, separate from the ABN, so a longer number on a branch’s paperwork is not by itself a sign of trouble. If the ABN on an invoice turns out to be invalid, or the details don’t match the supplier, the ATO says you must withhold at the top rate.
Field 3Where the ABN can come from
An invoice is the usual place, but the ATO also accepts other paper or electronic documents about the supply that quote the ABN. If the supplier shows its ABN on its website, you can note it down and keep it with your record of that purchase.
When you order by credit card over the phone, the ATO suggests asking for the ABN before you place the order. If there isn’t one, don’t let the supplier charge the whole amount to your card, because you will need to withhold from the payment.
A regular supplier can quote its ABN once to cover everything it supplies you for a set period, such as a financial year. You keep records linking the supplier, its ABN and the payments, and the ATO asks you to confirm at least once a year that the quoted ABN is still correct. If a regular supplier sends a different ABN from the one it gave before, check with the supplier first: it may simply be a mistake.
A supplier based overseas generally doesn’t have to give you an ABN unless it carries on an enterprise in Australia, for example through an agent or a branch office here.
Field 4When there is no ABN
If the supplier gives you no ABN and the whole supply is worth more than $75 before GST, you generally withhold tax at the top rate from the payment and pass it to the ATO. You then give the supplier a payment summary when you pay the rest, or as soon as you can afterwards, and keep a copy.
Where the supplier has applied for an ABN and is waiting on it, you and the supplier can agree to hold the payment until it arrives. What the ATO rules out is paying the full amount now on a promise that the ABN will follow.
Because you can’t claim a GST credit on a payment you withheld from, the ATO suggests keeping those records apart from your other payment records.
Some payments need no withholding even without an ABN, and the ATO asks you to keep records showing why. A supplier can give you a written statement, on the ATO’s form or in its own words, that its supply is excluded, and you keep that statement for five years; if you have reason to believe the statement is false or misleading, the ATO says you must withhold the top tax rate from the total payment. The main exclusions:
- the whole supply is $75 or less before GST (splitting a bigger job into small invoices doesn’t count);
- the supply isn’t a business transaction for the supplier, such as something from a hobby or a private sale by an individual who is not in business as a partnership, company or trust;
- the supplier’s income is entirely exempt from tax, as it is for many charities, schools and community groups.
Field 5Three dockets, worked through
| Docket | The purchase | What the paperwork needs |
|---|---|---|
| A | $990 including GST, from a supplier registered for GST. GST in the price: $990 ÷ 11 = $90. | A tax invoice for a sale under $1,000 must show enough to identify seven things: that it is meant to be a tax invoice, who the seller is, the seller’s ABN, the date, a short description with quantity and price, the GST (or, where the GST is exactly one-eleventh of the total price, a note that the total includes GST), and how much of the sale is taxable. |
| B | $1,320 including GST, from the same supplier. GST in the price: $1,320 ÷ 11 = $120. | Everything in docket A, plus your business’s identity or ABN, because the sale is $1,000 or more. |
| C | $400 for a business job, from a supplier who quotes no ABN and gives no statement that the supply is excluded. | The supply is worth more than $75, so you would generally withhold at the top rate, pay that to the ATO and give the supplier a payment summary. |
If you ask a GST-registered supplier for a tax invoice, it has to give you one within 28 days, unless the sale is $82.50 or less including GST. A tax invoice can be a PDF or another digital document, as long as it carries all the details a paper one would.
Field 6A real number on a false invoice
A genuine ABN proves less than it seems to. Scamwatch warns that scammers who pose as a business can copy its logo and its ABN onto an invoice, so a number that checks out on ABN Lookup can still arrive on a request that didn’t come from that business. The docket on invoice scams and changed bank details covers what to check before you pay.