Is my service GST-free?
Three questions, answered the way the ATO reads the GST Act. It's a guide to the rule, not a ruling on your business.
Do massage therapists charge GST?
Yes, if they're registered for GST. Massage on its own isn't a GST-free health service, so a registered massage therapist adds GST to the price. The ATO says it plainly, "If you supply massage therapy alone, it is not GST-free because it is not listed as a health service in the GST Act."
Source: Australian Taxation Office, GST and health, Other health services (last updated 12 June 2024), read 27 October 2026.
The GST Act has a table of 21 health services that can be GST-free, from acupuncture and chiropractic to physiotherapy and social work. Massage isn't one of them, and neither is midwifery.
Source: Australian Taxation Office legal database, A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999, section 38-10(1) table, read 27 October 2026.
Is remedial massage GST-free?
No, being remedial doesn't change it, and nor does belonging to an association or giving health-fund receipts. The ATO's own example is a remedial massage therapist called Claire, a member of the national association, whose work "may be similar to those provided by physiotherapists, but remedial massage is not physiotherapy. Remedial massage is not a listed service."
Source: Australian Taxation Office, GST and health, Other health services (last updated 12 June 2024), read 27 October 2026.
Massage can be GST-free in three narrow cases. When a Medicare benefit is payable for it. When a medical practitioner does it, skilled in it, as accepted treatment. Or when a listed professional like a physio does it as part of their own treatment. A doctor's referral alone doesn't count. The ATO's register says "A referral, in itself, will not render the subsequent supply GST-free."
Source: Australian Taxation Office legal database, Health industry partnership issues register, issue 1.a.11, read 27 October 2026.
Will massage ever be added to the list?
Not soon. The same register says that for massage therapy to be added to the table "a Regulation would need to issue and no such regulation is intended at this point in time."
Source: Australian Taxation Office legal database, Health industry partnership issues register, issue 2.a.9, read 27 October 2026.
Do midwives charge GST?
It depends how the midwife is registered, and this is the part most pages skip. Midwifery isn't in the GST Act's table. Nursing is, item 10. A service is GST-free under that table only if the person supplying it is a "recognised professional" for that kind of service, which means registered under the law that controls who can supply it.
Source: Australian Taxation Office legal database, A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999, section 38-10(1) item 10, read 27 October 2026.
Source: Australian Taxation Office legal database, A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999, section 195-1, recognised professional, read 27 October 2026.
So care from a midwife who is also a registered nurse can fit item 10, where it's nursing care and necessary treatment. Care from someone registered only as a midwife isn't plainly covered by the table. If you're registered only as a midwife and over the threshold, ask the ATO for a private ruling before you leave GST off. The Medicare rule below covers a lot of visits either way.
Why we read it this way
The ATO says "The service must be one of the listed services and cannot just be similar to one of these services." Midwifery and nursing are separate registrations, so midwifery being close to nursing isn't enough on its own. We read the Act and the ATO's guidance, we're not tax agents, and this isn't tax advice.
Source: Australian Taxation Office, GST and health, Other health services (last updated 12 June 2024), read 27 October 2026.
Midwife visits Medicare covers
A visit Medicare pays a benefit for is GST-free, whoever gives it. The ATO says "Medical services are GST-free" and a medical service includes "a service for which a Medicare benefit is payable".
Source: Australian Taxation Office, GST and health, Medical services (last updated 12 June 2024), read 27 October 2026.
Participating midwives bill Medicare items, in Group M13 of the Medicare Benefits Schedule, for antenatal and postnatal visits. The first antenatal visit, item 82100, is at least 60 minutes and its schedule fee is $89.00. A visit billed under one of those items is a medical service for GST. Care with no Medicare item, like a homebirth itself, goes back to the table above.
Source: Department of Health and Aged Care, MBS Online, item 82100 (schedule fee updated 1 July 2026), read 27 October 2026.
Under the $75,000 GST threshold
If your GST turnover is under $75,000 a year and you haven't chosen to register, you don't charge GST at all, on massage or anything else. The ATO says you must register "when your business or enterprise has a GST turnover (gross income from all businesses minus GST) of $75,000 or more". Turnover counts the last 12 months, or the next 12 if you expect to reach it.
Source: Australian Taxation Office, Registering for GST, read 27 October 2026.
Most new massage therapists start under it. Keep an eye on the 12 month total as you get busier, because once you're over you have 21 days to register.
Source: Australian Taxation Office, Registering for GST, read 27 October 2026.
What the invoice shows
If you're registered and some of your services are GST-free and some aren't, the ATO says "A tax invoice that includes taxable and non-taxable items, must clearly show which items are taxable." So an invoice with a Medicare covered visit and a taxable product on it shows GST on the product only.
Source: Australian Taxation Office, Tax invoices (last updated 18 September 2026), read 27 October 2026.
For the GST in a price, a $110 massage includes $10 GST and $100 is yours. The GST calculator does the sum for any price.
Send tax invoices with your PayID or bank details on themYamate sells software to massage therapists, salons and tradies. This guide and its checker are free and ask for nothing.
Related
General information, not tax advice. It reads the GST Act and the ATO's published guidance as at 27 October 2026. Your GST depends on your registration and each service, you lodge your own BAS, and for a firm answer on your business ask a registered tax agent or the ATO for a private ruling.