A common question we receive from customers who are not GST registered is whether they can change the title of their invoice from “Tax invoice” to simply “Invoice”.

The short answer is: there’s no need to.

From 1 April 2023, Inland Revenue replaced the old tax invoice rules with a more flexible system called Taxable Supply Information (TSI). Under the new rules, businesses are no longer required to issue or hold a specific document called a “tax invoice” in order to support GST claims. Instead, businesses must retain certain information about a transaction, which can be held across one or more records.

Importantly, Inland Revenue has stated that businesses can continue using existing terms such as “Tax invoice” if they wish. There is no requirement to change the wording used on invoices.

If you’re not GST registered, you should not charge GST or represent that GST has been charged on your invoice. However, the title of the document itself is generally not what determines whether GST applies. What matters is the information shown on the invoice, including whether GST has been charged and whether a GST number is provided.

In Solo, invoices created by non-GST registered businesses do not include GST and do not display a GST number.

To keep invoicing simple and consistent for all users, Solo currently uses the title “Tax invoice” on all invoices.

Because New Zealand’s GST invoicing rules no longer require invoices to be labelled in a particular way, using the title “Tax invoice” does not affect the validity of your invoice or create any additional tax obligations.

As long as you are not charging GST when you’re not GST registered, your invoice remains valid.

If you have any questions about invoicing in Solo, please contact us via the in-app chat and we’ll be happy to help.