Stripe deducts its fees before the money hits your bank. In Australia those fees usually include GST; in New Zealand the picture is narrower. This guide shows how to pick the right Xero tax rate, claim (or not claim) the GST, and post one balanced journal through a Stripe clearing account.
This is general information for bookkeepers and business owners. It is not tax advice. Confirm the treatment with your accountant and with the monthly Stripe tax invoice for your account.
Why the fee line matters for GST
If you code the net Stripe deposit straight to Sales, two things go wrong:
- Gross sales (and GST on sales, if you collect it) are understated.
- The Stripe fee never appears as an expense, so any GST in that fee never reaches your BAS or GST return.
Record gross charges, fees, refunds and disputes separately, then reconcile the bank deposit to the clearing line. For the full split, see Why your Stripe deposit doesn't match your sales and How to import Stripe payouts into Xero as a manual journal.
Australia: Stripe fees usually include GST
Stripe's Australian service is provided by Stripe Payments Australia Pty Limited.
Stripe's help centre states that for Australian account holders, GST applies to all Stripe fees at the prevailing standard rate, and that the GST charge is applied in addition to product and service fees unless you have agreed GST-inclusive pricing. See Taxes on Stripe fees for Australia-based businesses.
On Stripe's Australian pricing page, card, wallet and several other payment-method fees are listed with the note Fees include GST. Dispute fees and other Stripe product fees are also in scope of the GST treatment described in the help article.
Claiming the GST credit (ATO)
If you are registered for GST, you can generally claim a GST credit when:
- the purchase is for your business
- the price included GST
- you have provided (or are liable to provide) payment
- you hold a tax invoice for purchases over A$82.50 (including GST)
See the ATO pages When you can claim a GST credit and Tax invoices.
For a GST-inclusive fee, the GST component is one eleventh of the fee (fee ÷ 11). A fee of A$10.10 including GST contains A$0.92 of GST (10.10 ÷ 11 ≈ 0.92) and A$9.18 ex-GST.
Report GST on purchases at label 1B on your BAS. Timing follows your GST accounting method (cash or accruals). Ask your accountant if your situation is unusual.
Xero tax rates (Australia)
Default Australian tax rates in Xero include (Xero Central: Default tax rates):
| Tax rate name | Rate | Typical use on a Stripe payout journal |
|---|---|---|
| GST on Expenses | 10% | Stripe fee line, when the fee includes GST |
| GST Free Expenses | 0% | Purchases with no GST (not the usual Stripe AU fee line) |
| BAS Excluded | 0% | Clearing, and often sales/refunds/disputes when GST on sales is already handled on invoices |
Use the exact tax rate name from Accounting → Advanced → Tax rates in your organisation. A mismatched name fails the manual journal import.
New Zealand: GST on certain Stripe fees only
Stripe's New Zealand service is provided by Stripe New Zealand Limited, a company registered in New Zealand.
Stripe's help centre is more selective than the Australian article. For New Zealand account holders, GST applies to certain Stripe fees for products and services (examples given: Connect, Terminal hardware, and Radar) at the prevailing standard rate, applied in addition to those fees. See Taxes on Stripe fees for New Zealand–based businesses.
Unlike the Australian pricing page, Stripe's New Zealand pricing page does not state that standard card processing fees include GST. Treat the monthly tax invoice as the source of truth for whether GST was charged on a given fee type.
Reverse charge and remote services (IRD)
Inland Revenue's guide GST plus (IR546) explains that:
- Non-resident businesses are generally not required to charge GST on remote services supplied to New Zealand GST-registered businesses.
- A GST-registered recipient may need a reverse charge adjustment if imported / zero-rated remote services are used less than 95% for the taxable activity.
Because Stripe New Zealand Limited is a New Zealand entity, and because Stripe only lists GST on certain product fees, do not assume every processing fee on your payout carries 15% GST, and do not assume a reverse charge applies by default. Check the tax invoice and ask your accountant how your fee mix should be coded.
Xero tax rates (New Zealand)
New Zealand Xero organisations commonly use rates such as:
| Tax rate name | Rate | Typical use on a Stripe payout journal |
|---|---|---|
| 15% GST on Expenses | 15% | Fee lines where Stripe's tax invoice shows GST |
| No GST | 0% | Fee lines with no GST; clearing; often sales/refunds/disputes when GST on sales is handled on invoices |
Copy the name exactly from your org's tax rates. Names can vary if someone has customised them.
Where to get Stripe tax invoices
Stripe issues monthly tax invoices for fees (and taxes on fees) to businesses with legal entity addresses in Australia, New Zealand and other listed countries.
- Confirm your legal entity address and tax details are correct under Business settings (including ABN / NZ GST number as applicable).
- In the Stripe Dashboard, open Settings → Plans and fees → Invoice history (download tax invoices for Stripe fees).
- Invoices are available by the 10th of the following month. Stripe will not issue one if required business details are missing or no tax applied that month.
Invoices group balance transactions by Created date in UTC, not by payout arrival date. A refund or dispute near month-end can land on a different month's invoice than the original charge. See Understanding your monthly tax invoice.
Keep the monthly tax invoice with your records. Per-payout fee lines in the reconciliation CSV are useful for bookkeeping, but the tax invoice is what the ATO expects for purchases over A$82.50, and it is the cleanest evidence of GST charged in either country.
Record the payout through a Stripe clearing account
A practical Xero pattern:
- Create a current asset (or bank) account called Stripe Clearing (sample code 855 below).
- Post one manual journal per payout: credit gross sales, debit fees / refunds / disputes, debit clearing for the net.
- When the bank feed shows the deposit, reconcile it as a Transfer from Stripe Clearing.
Clearing should return to zero after each matched payout. See How to import Stripe payouts into Xero as a manual journal for the import template and sign convention (debits positive, credits negative).
Get the numbers from Stripe's itemized payout reconciliation CSV (how to export it). Filter to one automatic_payout_id, then total by reporting_category.
Fees, refunds and disputes on the CSV
- Processing fees sit in the
feecolumn on charge rows (and sometimes on other rows). - Refunds reduce gross. By default Stripe does not return the original processing fee when you refund (AU pricing FAQ).
- Disputes remove the disputed principal; the dispute fee usually appears in that row's
feecolumn. On the sample homepage payout the dispute line is A$15.00 — use whatever your CSV shows, not a published list price. - Separate Stripe product fees (
fee,stripe_fee, and similar reporting categories) should stay on the fee expense, not buried inside disputes. See Record Stripe fees in a Xero manual journal.
Worked example (PayoutPair sample payout)
Australian organisation. Figures match the sample payout on payoutpair.com:
| Component | Amount |
|---|---|
| Gross charges | A$317.00 |
| Stripe fees, incl. GST | −A$10.10 |
| Refunds | −A$30.00 |
| Disputes | −A$15.00 |
| Bank deposit (net) | A$261.90 |
GST in the fee line:
- Fee including GST: A$10.10
- GST component: 10.10 ÷ 11 = A$0.92 (rounded to the cent)
- Ex-GST fee: A$9.18
In Xero, coding the fee line as GST on Expenses on a GST-inclusive amount of A$10.10 lets Xero extract that A$0.92 for the BAS. You do not enter 0.92 as a separate journal line.
Xero manual journal lines
Sample account codes from the site mapping: sales 200, bank fees 404, general expenses 429, Stripe clearing 855. Replace with your chart of accounts.
| Code | Description | Debit | Credit | Tax rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 200 | Gross sales | — | A$317.00 | BAS Excluded |
| 404 | Stripe fees | A$10.10 | — | GST on Expenses |
| 200 | Refunds | A$30.00 | — | BAS Excluded |
| 429 | Disputes | A$15.00 | — | BAS Excluded |
| 855 | Stripe clearing | A$261.90 | — | BAS Excluded |
Check: debits 10.10 + 30.00 + 15.00 + 261.90 = 317.00; credits = 317.00.
Why BAS Excluded on sales, refunds, disputes and clearing in this example:
- Many Xero files already record GST on sales when the customer invoice (or Stripe Tax / checkout) is posted. Putting GST on Income again on the payout journal would double-count.
- The clearing line is a balance-sheet movement, not a taxable purchase.
- Disputes and refunds often follow the same tax treatment as the original sale in your file — confirm with your accountant.
If you only book Stripe activity through payout journals (no separate invoices), you may instead need GST on Income / GST on Expenses on the sales and refund lines. That choice is file-specific; do not copy it blindly.
After you post
In Bank accounts → Reconcile, find the A$261.90 deposit. Use Transfer and choose Stripe Clearing (855). The journal debited clearing; the transfer credits it; clearing returns to zero.
Same numbers in a New Zealand file
If this were an NZD payout with the same shape, the lines would look similar, but the fee tax rate depends on the invoice:
- Processing fee with no GST on the Stripe tax invoice → No GST on the fee line.
- Connect / Terminal / Radar (or any other fee) that does show GST → 15% GST on Expenses on that fee amount.
- Clearing and (usually) sales/refunds/disputes → No GST, subject to how you already account for GST on sales.
When in doubt, match the tax invoice, not the payout CSV alone.
Practical checklist
- Download the itemized payout reconciliation CSV and filter to one payout.
- Download the monthly Stripe tax invoice once it appears (by the 10th).
- Map fee expense to GST on Expenses (AU) or to 15% GST on Expenses / No GST (NZ) based on the invoice.
- Post one balanced journal to Stripe Clearing; transfer the bank deposit from clearing.
- Spot-check that GST on fees for the BAS / GST return period agrees with the tax invoices (small rounding differences between per-transaction ÷11 and the invoice total are common — many advisers treat the invoice as authoritative).
Where PayoutPair helps
Building that journal by hand means filtering the CSV, totalling categories, picking tax rates and flipping signs for Xero's import. PayoutPair builds the balanced journal from the Stripe payout CSV — no Stripe API connection. Map account codes and an existing Xero tax rate once, then export for Xero's manual journal import.
You can check a deposit in the free Stripe payout calculator, or upload a CSV. The free plan covers 5 payouts a month. Solo is $9 a month for one business.
Related guides:
- Download Stripe's itemized payout reconciliation CSV
- Record Stripe fees in a Xero manual journal
- Import Stripe payouts into Xero as a manual journal
- Why your Stripe deposit doesn't match your sales
FAQ
Do Stripe fees include GST in Australia?
Usually yes. Stripe states that GST applies to all Stripe fees for Australian account holders, and the Australian pricing page marks many payment fees as including GST. Confirm on your monthly tax invoice, especially if you are on custom pricing.
Do Stripe fees include GST in New Zealand?
Not necessarily on every fee. Stripe says GST applies to certain fees (examples: Connect, Terminal hardware, Radar). Standard card processing fees are not described the same way as in Australia. Use the monthly tax invoice and your accountant's guidance.
Which Xero tax rate should I use for Stripe fees?
In Australia, GST on Expenses when the fee includes GST. In New Zealand, 15% GST on Expenses when the invoice shows GST, otherwise No GST. Copy the name exactly from your organisation's tax rates.
Should sales and refunds on the payout journal use GST on Income?
Only if you are not already accounting for GST on sales elsewhere. Many files use BAS Excluded (AU) or No GST (NZ) on the payout journal's sales, refunds, disputes and clearing lines to avoid double-counting. Ask your accountant which pattern your file uses.
Where do I download Stripe tax invoices?
Dashboard → Settings → Plans and fees → Invoice history. Available by the 10th of the following month for eligible countries, including Australia and New Zealand, when Stripe has your business details and tax applied that month.