Short answer – yes, if you do not provide a valid ABN you will be charged an additional 10% GST for advertising services.

What is GST?

GST stands for Goods and Services Tax, a value-added tax levied on most goods and services in Australia.

If you are registered for GST, it is mandatory for you to charge GST on the goods and services you sell, and you can also claim credits for the GST included in the price of the goods and services you purchase for your business.

Do Facebook Ads Have GST?

If you are advertising on Facebook in Australia, you need to be aware that goods and services tax (GST) applies.

This is relevant to advertisers whose business or personal address indicates Australia as the ‘Sold to’ country and have not added their Australian business number (ABN) to their Facebook ad account.

For business-related ads, Facebook is required to verify your GST registration through your ABN.

In the Ad accounts settings of Ads Manager, you can include your ABN to ensure it appears on your ads receipts. By adding your ABN to your account, you can avoid the inclusion of GST on your purchase of Facebook ads.

GST is added to your ad charges regardless of whether you are buying ads for business or personal purposes.

Since GST is added on top of the charges, it does not affect your billing threshold, but it may result in a higher amount being charged than your billing threshold.

If you make manual payments for Facebook ads, GST will be accounted for at the applicable rate when your ad account is funded, determining the total balance available.

Adding your ABN to your Facebook Ad Account

To add your ABN to your ad account, follow these steps in Ads Manager:

Before you begin

  • To add your ABN to your ad account, you have to be the admin of the ad account.
  • Confirm in Payment settings that your ad account’s business country is set to Australia. If it isn’t, first change your business country to Australia.

To add your ABN if you’re already a Facebook advertiser:

  • Go to Payment settings in Ads Manager.
  • In the ABN field, enter your ABN.
  • Click Save Changes.

Your ABN is saved to your account.

Please note: If you are a first-time Facebook advertiser, you need to select the country of your ad account during the creation of your first Facebook ad. If you choose Australia, you will be prompted to add your ABN before finalizing your ad purchase.

If you’d like help adding your ABN, contact us on 1300 1400 56 or send us a message.