# Do I charge GST on cakes in Australia?

> Yes, once registered. The ATO treats cakes, pastries and biscuits as taxable at 10 percent, plain bread is GST-free, and registration starts at A$75,000.

Yes, once you are registered for GST. The ATO lists "bakery products, including
cakes, pastries, pies, sausage rolls, bread and bread rolls with a sweet filling
or coating, such as icing" as taxable food, so a registered cake maker charges
10 percent GST on every cake, cupcake and slice. Plain bread is GST-free, and so
are the flour, sugar and baking mixes you buy to make everything else.

If you are not registered, you charge no GST at all, on cakes or anything else.

## When you have to register

You must register when your GST turnover reaches **A$75,000** or more. The ATO
measures it two ways and either one triggers it:

- **Current GST turnover:** this month plus the previous 11 months.
- **Projected GST turnover:** this month plus the next 11 months, if you are
  likely to reach the threshold.

GST turnover is your gross business income minus any GST. Once you are required
to register, you have **21 days** to do it. Below the threshold registration is
optional, and if you choose to register you generally stay registered for at
least 12 months.

The projected test is the one that catches cake makers. A run of booked wedding
deposits for next season can put your next 12 months over A$75,000 before your
last 12 months ever were. Check both numbers each month once you are within
reach.

## What is taxable and what is GST-free

Taken from the ATO's taxable food and GST-free food lists:

| Product | GST status |
|---|---|
| Cakes, including celebration and wedding cakes | Taxable (10%) |
| Cupcakes, slices, pastries, pies | Taxable (10%) |
| Biscuits and cookies | Taxable (10%) |
| Ice cream cakes | Taxable (10%) |
| Bread or rolls with icing or a sweet filling | Taxable (10%) |
| Bread or rolls with only a glaze | GST-free |
| Plain bread and bread rolls | GST-free |
| Flour, sugar and baking mixes with no taxable ingredients | GST-free |
| Any food or drink consumed on your premises | Taxable (10%) |

The glaze line is the one to remember if you bake both. The ATO says a glaze is
not a sweet coating, so a glazed fruit loaf can stay GST-free where an iced bun
cannot. The last row matters if you run a counter with seating: bread eaten at
your tables is taxable even though the same loaf taken away is not.

> For a registered cake maker the rule is simple: your cakes, cupcakes, cookies
> and slices carry 10 percent GST, while most of your ingredients carry none, so
> there is little GST on flour and sugar to claim back against what you collect.

## Pricing with GST in the number

Australian consumers expect the price on the menu to include GST. If a cake is
A$330 including GST, the GST in it is one eleventh of that, A$30, and A$300 is
yours. Becoming registered without changing your prices means absorbing that
eleventh, so work out your new prices before your registration date, not after.

A worked example for a cake maker crossing the line mid-year: a two-tier cake
that was A$300 before registration needs to be A$330 to keep the same A$300 in
your pocket. If the market will not carry A$330, your margin on that cake has
just fallen by A$30, and your [cake pricing](/blog/cake-pricing-calculator)
should be redone from your costs.

## Keeping it straight in ibakepro

In ibakepro GST is one of the tax types you can choose. You set the rate, with
a different rate by product category where one needs it (a GST-free bread
category beside your taxable cakes, for example), and ibakepro applies what you
configured to prices, deposits and balances. For the wider setup of an Australian account, including
currency and the Sydney data region, see
[bakery software for Australian bakers](/bakery-software-australia).

This is general information drawn from the ATO's published guidance, checked
October 2026. The ATO and your accountant are the final word on your
situation, and the ATO's detailed food list covers individual products not
named above.