GST
GST on donations and auction items at community fundraisers
Trivia nights, charity auctions, raffles and school fetes are the lifeblood of community fundraising — and they raise surprisingly fiddly GST questions. Whether you bought an item at the auction or you're the organisation banking the proceeds, here's how the GST rules generally work.
Start with the difference: gift vs purchase
GST turns on whether something is a genuine gift or a payment for goods or services. A true donation — money given with nothing received in return — is not consideration for a supply, so no GST applies to it. The moment the donor receives something in return (a dinner ticket, a raffle entry, an auction item), it stops being a gift and starts looking like a sale.
This distinction matters for both sides. The buyer wants to know if there's GST in the price they can claim back, and the organisation needs to know whether GST applies to the money it collected.
If you bought something at the auction
Paying $500 for a signed jersey at a charity auction is a purchase, not a donation — even if the jersey was only 'worth' $100. Because you received goods in exchange, the whole amount is the price of a supply, and whether GST is included depends on the seller's GST registration.
If the organisation is registered for GST (or required to be) and the sale isn't GST-free, the price generally includes GST and a GST-registered business buyer may be able to claim a GST credit — provided the purchase has a business purpose and you hold a tax invoice. If the organisation is a small charity under the $150,000 registration threshold and not registered, there's no GST in the price and nothing to claim.
The part that's never claimable: any amount you paid above the item's market value as a gesture of support isn't separately deductible as a 'donation' — it's all just the price you paid. Genuine deductible gifts are a separate question for your accountant, and require the organisation to be a deductible gift recipient (DGR).
Raffles, tickets and entry fees
Raffle tickets and event entry fees are payments for something in return — a chance to win, or admission — so they're generally taxable sales if the organisation is GST-registered. The GST is built into the ticket price whether or not it's itemised.
Many community organisations fall under the GST concessions for charities: some fundraising events can be treated as input-taxed, which means no GST is charged on the ticket sales but the organisation also can't claim GST credits on the event costs. Which treatment applies depends on the event and how the organisation has set things up — it's worth checking before the tickets go on sale, not after.
If your business donated the auction item
Donating goods or services for the auction has its own GST angle. If you're GST-registered and you donate trading stock, that's generally still a supply — the ATO can treat it as a taxable supply at market value in some circumstances, and the organisation receiving it may have obligations too. You can usually still claim the GST credits on what it cost you to acquire or make the item.
Keep simple records: what you donated, its cost, its market value, and who received it. If the organisation is a DGR and your donation qualifies as a genuine gift, there may also be an income tax deduction — that's a question for your tax agent, separate from the GST treatment.
For the organisers: registration and reporting
Community groups and charities must register for GST once their GST turnover reaches $150,000 (the threshold is higher than the $75,000 that applies to other businesses). Auction proceeds, raffle sales and ticket income all count toward that turnover.
Once registered, the organisation needs to issue tax invoices for taxable sales over $82.50 when asked, report the GST on its BAS, and keep records of which income was donations (no GST), which was taxable sales, and which was input-taxed fundraising. Mixing these up is one of the most common errors we see in not-for-profit books.
The practical takeaways
A few simple rules of thumb for fundraiser season:
- A genuine donation with nothing received in return: no GST, and only tax-deductible if the organisation is a DGR.
- Auction purchases and raffle tickets: treated as sales — GST may be included if the seller is registered.
- Business buyers can only claim GST credits with a tax invoice and a business purpose.
- Organisers should confirm their GST registration status and event treatment before selling tickets.
- When in doubt, ask before the event — fixing GST coding after the money is banked is much harder.
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