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Yamate › Tax & setup

Tax & business setup for tradies

By Tess Dewhirst · Last updated September 2026

Three things to sort, in this order: get a free ABN (often issued instantly), register for GST once your turnover hits $75,000, and set aside your real tax rate as you get paid — not a flat 25–30% (it's about 13% of profit at $50k). Without an ABN, business customers may have to withhold 47% of your payment. Plain English, no accountant jargon.

💡 This page is the tax and money half of setting up. If you are earlier than that — still deciding on a structure, a licence, insurance and what to charge — start with going out on your own, which covers the whole first-90-days sequence and links back here for the tax detail.

Already trading? Check what the register holds

A quick sanity check before the rest of this page: what the Australian Business Register currently records against your ABN, including whether it shows you as registered for GST.

1. Get your ABN

First job: an Australian Business Number. It's free, often instant, and goes on every quote and invoice. Without it, business customers may have to withhold 47% of your pay.

How to get an ABN (free) →What you need, how to apply through the ABR, how long it takes, and the no-ABN withholding trap.

2. Work out GST

You must register for GST once your turnover hits $75,000 — below that it's optional, and there are real arguments both ways depending on who your customers are.

Do I need to register for GST? →The $75k rule, when to register early, and what changes once you do.

3. Set money aside for tax

Set aside your real rate, not a flat 25–30% — for most tradies that's an over-save. It's about 13% of profit at $50,000 and climbs from there; you don't reach 30% until you're clearing around $200,000. No boss is taking tax out for you anymore, that's your job now. A second account and a fixed % means tax time is never a shock.

How much tax to put aside →The set-aside % by profit band, why it depends on your income, and PAYG instalments.

4. Taken someone on?

The day you pay a first employee or apprentice, three obligations land together — PAYG withholding, super, and reporting each pay to the ATO. Sort the setup before the first payday, not after — getting someone's pay or super wrong is the one that bites hardest.

Putting on your first employee →PAYG, super, workers comp and payroll, in the order they matter.

Let the app handle the day-to-day

Once you're set up, Yamate keeps your ABN and GST on every invoice, tracks your income as you go, and chases late payers — so the ongoing admin doesn't pile up.

Try Yamate free — built for tradies, solo or with a crew →

Free tools

Want the job before it is advertised? Homeowners post their problems in Who Do I Call? Australia, our free Facebook group. Answer one well and you are the tradie they ring. Join, help out, and put your business in front of the people asking.
Join the free group →

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Official source for building and construction tradies: Building and construction tradies – tax essentials (ATO).

General information for Australian sole traders, not tax or legal advice. Check the ATO, ABR and business.gov.au, or your accountant, for your situation.