The Tourist Refund Scheme: Claim Your GST Back When You Leave Australia

Here's a fact that pays for your last week of hostels: when you fly out of Australia, the government will refund the GST — the 10% Goods and Services Tax — on eligible things you bought near the end of your trip and are taking home. It's called the Tourist Refund Scheme (TRS), it takes about ten minutes at the airport, and despite the name it absolutely applies to working-holiday makers, not just tourists. Bought a $2,000 laptop in your final month? That's roughly $180 back in your pocket for filling in an app and joining a queue.

The rules that decide everything

Four conditions, all mandatory:

• $300 minimum from one retailer. You must have spent at least AUD $300 (GST-inclusive) with a single business (same ABN). You can combine multiple receipts from the same retailer to reach $300 — you can't stack receipts from different shops.
• Bought within 60 days of departure. Only purchases made in the 60 days before you leave qualify. The camera from month two of your year? Out of luck. This is why savvy backpackers time big purchases for the final stretch.
• A proper tax invoice. Not just any receipt — it must show the retailer's ABN, a description of the goods, the price and the GST. For purchases of $1,000 or more, the invoice must also show your name (matching your passport), so ask the shop to add it at the till.
• You take the goods with you. Carry them in your hand luggage so a Border Force officer can sight them at the desk. Oversized items like surfboards can be verified before you check them in — ask at the airport's Border Force client services counter first.

The 60-day window is the rule that catches everyone. If a big purchase is coming — laptop, camera, phone, board — hold off until your final two months, and the government funds a chunk of it.

What you can and can't claim

Typically claimable: electronics, cameras, phones, clothing, jewellery, surfboards and sports gear, souvenirs — physical goods leaving the country with you. Wine attracts a refund of both GST and the wine tax (WET).

Not claimable: anything consumed in Australia — meals, groceries, accommodation, tours, campervan hire, fuel, dive courses. Services in general. GST-free goods (nothing to refund). And gift cards.

The refund is the GST component: divide the price by 11. A $1,100 purchase returns $100.

How it works at the airport

1. Do the app first. Download the official TRS app before airport day, enter your flight, invoice details and payment preference, and it generates a QR code. This is the single biggest time-saver — QR-code holders are processed much faster.
2. Handle oversized goods before bag drop. Surfboard or anything too big for the cabin? Have it sighted at the Border Force office landside, get the paperwork, then check it in.
3. Clear security and passport control. The TRS facility sits airside, in international departures.
4. Bring goods, invoices, passport and boarding pass to the TRS desk. Officer checks, scans your QR code, done.
5. Get to the desk with time to spare. Claims close 30 minutes before your flight's departure, and queues spike when several international flights leave together. Give yourself a solid buffer — a missed queue is a forfeited refund.

Getting the money (choose wisely)

You'll nominate how the refund is paid — usually to a credit/debit card or an Australian bank account. Card refunds take a few days to a couple of weeks to land, which creates one classic backpacker trap: nominating an Australian account you're about to close, or a card that expires next month. Pick something that will still exist when the money arrives — a multi-currency account with Australian details is perfect here, since the AUD lands fee-free and you can convert it home at the real exchange rate instead of a bank's. Wise (multi-currency account)

Fine print worth knowing

• You can use the goods before departure. That new laptop doesn't need to stay shrink-wrapped — it just needs to leave with you.
• Bringing goods back into Australia? If you return, TRS-refunded goods count toward your duty-free passenger allowance and may need declaring — relevant if your "departure" is a Bali trip mid-visa.
• Original invoices only. Photos and bank statements don't cut it. Keep the paper (or the emailed tax invoice).
• It's free. No fee, no percentage taken — the full GST comes back.

Rules and thresholds are set by the Australian Border Force and can change, so skim the official TRS page before you fly. Then buy the camera, save the invoice, load the app, and let Australia's tax office fund your first round of drinks back home.