{"id":10059,"date":"2017-03-31T12:22:58","date_gmt":"2017-03-31T01:52:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=10059"},"modified":"2026-02-26T07:47:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T22:17:13","slug":"gst-solar-calculated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/gst-solar-calculated\/","title":{"rendered":"How GST On Solar Is Calculated"},"content":{"rendered":"
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How to charge GST on solar is not obvious. Read on to discover why…<\/p><\/div>\n

Let’s say you have just been quoted a nice round $7,000 for a brand spanking new rooftop solar system with 5 kilowatts<\/a> of panels.\u00a0 With Australia’s 10% Goods and Services Tax, you might expect the GST portion of that quote to come to $700.<\/p>\n

Or, if you didn’t go to school in Toowoomba like I did, you might actually think GST would be $636.36 because that would be 10% of $6,363.64 which would then add up to a nice round $7,000.\u00a0 (Remember kids, always pay attention in math class if you don’t want to end up as a lowly solar blogger.)<\/p>\n

But, if you look at what you actually pay in GST on that quote, you will see it is likely to be over $900. WTF? That’s around 50% more you’d expect for something that costs $7,000.<\/p>\n

But don’t worry, you’re not being ripped off.\u00a0 The reason why it is so high is because you have to\u00a0pay GST on the full price of the system before the effect of the “solar rebate1<\/a><\/sup>” is applied and Small-scale Technology Certificates, or STCs<\/a>, lower the price.\u00a0 For a $7,000 system with 5 kilowatts of panels, STCs will lower its cost by around one-third.<\/p>\n

So if you think your installer has screwed up their quote and is overcharging you for GST, don’t panic!\u00a0 It is almost certainly fine.\u00a0 Of course, if after reading this article you realize they really have screwed up the GST, then you are allowed to panic a little if you want:<\/p>\n