What 15% actually applies to, how an inclusive price splits, when you have to register, and the three things this software deliberately does not do for you.
New Zealand buyers expect the price on the page to be the price they pay. GoCushy displays GST-inclusive by default, so nothing moves at the last step. Underneath, every inclusive price is two numbers.
The arithmetic runs on the inclusive figure, not the other way round: divide by 1.15 to get the exclusive amount, and the difference is the GST. NZ$99 ÷ 1.15 = NZ$86.09, leaving NZ$12.91. Multiplying NZ$86 by 1.15 gives NZ$98.90, which is why rounding the exclusive figure to whole dollars quietly breaks the reconciliation.
You must register if your turnover was at least NZ$60,000 in the last twelve months, or you expect it will be at least NZ$60,000 in the next twelve months. It is a rolling test, not a financial-year one, and the forward-looking half catches people out — a single large contract can put you over before the invoices are issued.
If you are not registered, do not turn GST on. Charging GST you are not registered to collect is a worse problem than not charging it, and it is visible on every invoice you have issued.
If most or all of your sales are to overseas buyers, whether those count toward the threshold is a question worth putting to your accountant directly rather than assuming either way. GoCushy does not make that call and does not display an opinion about it.
From that point every New Zealand sale carries GST, and every invoice carries your GST number. Your GST number is your IRD number; there is no separate one to find.
| Sale | Treatment |
|---|---|
| Digital product to a New Zealand buyer | 15% |
| Service to a New Zealand buyer | 15% |
| Either, to a buyer outside New Zealand | Generally zero-rated — see selling overseas |
The distinction is the buyer’s location, not yours. That is why GoCushy captures and keeps the buyer’s country on every order instead of treating it as an analytics field that ages out.
GoCushy displays GST-inclusive by default. If you sell business-to-business and prefer to quote excluding GST, you can display it that way. Either is lawful.
What is not lawful is quoting a price excluding GST without making that clear to a consumer — that is a Fair Trading Act problem rather than a tax one, and it is the kind of thing the Commerce Commission acts on.
Any checkout that claims to do the first of those is describing something other than what happens.
General information about how GoCushy behaves, correct as at 19 August 2026. It is not tax advice about your circumstances — your accountant knows those and we do not.
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