GST for Traders in NZ: When You Actually Have to Register

The short version

• Your trading profits — forex, crypto, metals, shares — are an exempt financial service for GST. You don't charge GST on them, and they don't count toward the $60,000 registration threshold.
• So even a trader turning over hundreds of thousands a year usually doesn't have to register for GST on their trading.
• But if you separately earn money from courses, signals, coaching, paid communities or subscriptions, that income is GST-applicable — and it counts toward the $60k test.
• Register once your GST-applicable turnover tops $60,000 in any 12-month period. GST is charged at 15%.
• The trap cuts both ways: people wrongly think their trading volume forces registration, or they quietly cross $60k on a side course and don't realise they should have registered.

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Every so often a trader messages us in a mild panic: "I turned over $400k this year — do I need to register for GST?" It's a fair question, and the answer surprises almost everyone. For pure trading, no — you almost certainly don't. But there's a version of this where the answer is yes, and it has nothing to do with your trading at all.

Here's how GST actually works for New Zealand traders, without the jargon.

Why trading P&L is GST-exempt

GST is a tax on the supply of goods and services. But the GST Act carves out a category called financial services and treats them as exempt supplies. Buying and selling currency, securities and other financial instruments falls squarely inside that category. Crypto-assets sit outside GST too, under specific rules IRD introduced to stop them being caught.

What "exempt" means in practice:

• You don't add 15% GST to your trading gains (there's no customer to charge anyway — the market is the counterparty).
• Your trading turnover doesn't count toward the $60,000 GST registration threshold.
• You generally can't claim GST back on costs that relate purely to that exempt trading activity.

This is why a trader with a huge notional turnover still isn't a "GST person" for their trading. The volume is irrelevant — the nature of the activity is what matters, and financial trading is exempt. (Income tax is a completely separate story: your trading profit is still taxable income. GST-exempt is not tax-free.)

What actually does count

Now the part that catches people. Plenty of traders build a second stream of income around their trading, and that income is usually standard-rated — ordinary, GST-applicable supplies. The common ones:

• Selling a trading course or educational content
• Running a paid signals service or alerts group
• Coaching or mentoring other traders one-on-one
• A paid Discord/Telegram community or membership
• Subscriptions to a tool, newsletter or model you've built
• Affiliate or referral commissions from brokers and platforms

These are services you supply to customers for a fee, so they're inside the GST net. Add up the turnover from activities like these — not your trading — and that's the figure you test against the threshold.

The $60,000 test

You must register for GST when your turnover from taxable (GST-applicable) activities is more than $60,000 in any 12-month period. That's either:

• the last 12 months already exceeded $60,000, or
• you reasonably expect the next 12 months to.

The second limb matters — you don't get to wait until you've banked $60k. If you launch a course and it's clearly going to do $60k+ over the year, the obligation can bite from the start.

Below $60k you can still register voluntarily, which some people do so they can claim GST back on the costs of running that side business. Once registered, you charge 15% GST on those taxable supplies, file regular GST returns, and claim GST on related expenses.

A worked example

Say you're a full-time trader. This year:

• Trading P&L: $180,000 profit. GST-exempt — $0 counts toward the threshold, no GST charged.
• Trading course: you sold $48,000 of it.
• Paid signals group: another $19,000 in subscriptions.

Your trading — the big number — is irrelevant to GST. But your course and signals together are $67,000 of GST-applicable turnover, which is over $60,000. You must register for GST, charge 15% on the course and signals going forward, and file returns. Your trading profit stays outside GST entirely (though it's still income-taxable).

Flip it around: if the course and signals came to $40,000 combined, you'd be under the threshold and wouldn't have to register at all — trading turnover and all.

Mixing exempt and taxable activity

If you do both — trade (exempt) and sell courses (taxable) — you're running what GST calls mixed activities. A couple of consequences:

• Only the taxable turnover counts toward the $60k threshold.
• You charge GST only on the taxable supplies, never on trading gains.
• When a cost is shared between the two (say your accountant, or a laptop used for both), you can only claim the portion of GST that relates to the taxable side. This apportionment is exactly the kind of thing worth getting an accountant to set up cleanly.

Common mistakes

• Thinking trading turnover forces GST registration. It doesn't — trading is exempt. Turnover is a red herring here.
• Forgetting the side income counts. The course, the signals, the coaching — that's the income that can quietly cross $60k while you're not watching.
• Waiting until you've banked $60k. The "expect to exceed in the next 12 months" limb can trigger registration earlier.
• Assuming GST-exempt means tax-free. Your trading profit is still fully taxable as income — GST and income tax are different taxes.
• Claiming GST on purely trading costs. If a cost relates only to your exempt trading, you generally can't claim the GST on it.

What to do next

If you only trade, GST is probably a non-issue — but your trading profit is still income you'll pay tax on, so keep clean records with everything converted to NZD. If you've got a course, signals or coaching income building alongside your trading, keep an eye on that turnover and talk to an accountant well before it hits $60,000.

TradeLog NZ keeps your trading records and NZD conversions in order for the income-tax side — the part that always applies. For the wider picture, see the NZ trader tax guide and, if you're not sure whether you're even classed as a trader, how IRD decides trader vs investor.

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Do traders have to pay GST in New Zealand?

Generally no, not on their trading. Profits from trading forex, crypto, metals and shares are an exempt financial service for GST, so you don't charge GST on them and they don't count toward the $60,000 registration threshold — regardless of how large your turnover is. Trading profit is still taxable as income, but that's income tax, not GST.

Does trading turnover count toward the $60,000 GST threshold?

No. Because trading is a GST-exempt financial service, your trading turnover is excluded from the $60,000 test entirely. Only turnover from GST-applicable activities — like selling courses, signals, coaching or subscriptions — counts toward the threshold.

When does a trader have to register for GST?

When your turnover from taxable (GST-applicable) activities exceeds $60,000 in any 12-month period — either the past 12 months, or the next 12 months you reasonably expect. For most traders that only happens if they sell education, signals, coaching or similar alongside their trading. GST is charged at 15%.

Is selling a trading course or signals subject to GST?

Yes. Courses, signals subscriptions, coaching, paid communities and similar services are standard-rated supplies for GST. If income from activities like these tops $60,000 in a 12-month period, you must register and charge 15% GST on them — even though your trading itself stays exempt.

Do I charge GST on crypto trading?

No. Supplies of crypto-assets are outside the GST net under specific IRD rules, so buying and selling crypto doesn't attract GST and doesn't count toward the registration threshold — the same practical outcome as other financial trading. As always, the profit is still taxable as income.

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This article is general information only and does not constitute formal tax advice. GST has specific rules and individual circumstances vary. Review with a qualified NZ tax accountant before registering or filing. TradeLog NZ accepts no liability for errors in your tax return. For the official rules, see IRD on GST.