The 8.5% GST flat-rate credit, explained
Since April 2024 platforms pass 8.5% of GST back to unregistered drivers. What it is, whether it is taxable, and the choice you get.
Written by Tax Accountant Limited, chartered accountants and IRD registered tax agent. Figures checked 10 November 2026.
If you drive for a platform in New Zealand and you are not registered for GST, you have been paid something you may not know about. It is called the flat-rate credit, it is worth 8.5% of your fares, and it has to be handled properly in your tax return.
Where it came from
On 1 April 2024 the rules for "listed services" changed. Ride-sharing and food delivery now work like this, whether or not the driver is registered for GST:
| Platform collects | 15% GST on every fare |
|---|---|
| Pays Inland Revenue | 6.5% |
| Pays you | 8.5%, the flat-rate credit |
The logic is that you pay GST on fuel, tyres and servicing and cannot claim it back while unregistered. The 8.5% is a rough refund of that.
On $40,000 of fares that is $3,400. It has already been paid to you, and it is in your annual summary whether you noticed it or not.
The part most people get wrong
A lot of advice says the credit is simply taxable income. That is not quite right, and the difference matters.
You have a choice, and the two options have to be kept consistent:
Option one: include it as income
You count the credit as part of your income, and you claim your expenses at their GST-inclusive cost, what you actually paid at the pump.
Option two: leave it out
You do not count the credit as income, and you claim your marketplace expenses at their GST-exclusive cost instead.
Which leaves you better off depends on your mix of costs, and on how much of your driving is through the platform. It is not a guess, it is a calculation, and it is one of the places a driver filing alone most often ends up paying more than they needed to.
One detail that is easy to miss: platform fees relate wholly to your marketplace income, so they are never apportioned. Treat them like your other costs and the answer comes out wrong. We found this the hard way testing against Inland Revenue's own worked example.
Once you cross $60,000
Registration becomes compulsory when your turnover passes $60,000 in any rolling twelve months. At that point the credit stops. Your fares become zero-rated, and instead you claim GST back on your real costs through your own GST returns.
Note "rolling twelve months", not "tax year". Drivers get caught by this when a busy few months push them over without the financial year having ended.
We work out both options
Your return is prepared by a chartered accountant who calculates the credit both ways and uses whichever leaves you better off.
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