Do I charge GST on cakes in Australia?
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.
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 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.
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.