Is a business website tax deductible in Australia?

Website costs incurred for a business are generally recognised as a business expense. How they are claimed is the part that varies. The cost of building a new website is often treated as capital in nature and written off over time rather than claimed in full in the year you paid it, while ongoing costs like hosting, the domain renewal and routine maintenance are more commonly deductible in the year they are incurred. Which treatment applies depends on your circumstances and on rules that change, so confirm it with your accountant or against current ATO guidance.

Can I claim my website in full in the year I paid for it?

Sometimes, and it depends on the amount, on your business structure and on which small business concessions are available in that income year. Write-off thresholds and eligibility rules have changed several times, so anyone quoting you a specific figure without asking about your situation is guessing. Your accountant will know what applies for the year in question.

Are website hosting and domain fees deductible?

Ongoing running costs for a business website, such as hosting, the annual domain renewal and routine maintenance or small content updates, are generally treated as deductible expenses in the year they are incurred. They are usually handled differently from the initial build cost, which is one reason it helps to have them itemised separately on your invoices.

What records do I need to claim a website expense?

A valid tax invoice from a business with an ABN, showing what the work was, the date, the amount, and whether GST was charged. Keep the date the site went live as well, because when a website starts being used for the business can matter to how the cost is treated. If the site is partly personal, keep a note of how you worked out the business portion.

Is there GST on a website build in Australia?

Only if the business building it is registered for GST. A supplier that is not registered for GST cannot charge it, and their invoice will not show a GST component. Either way you should receive a proper invoice with their ABN on it, and if GST was charged and you are registered you may be able to claim the credit.

Home / Is a website tax deductible in Australia?

Is a website tax deductible in Australia?

Generally it is a business expense. How you claim it is the part that varies, and it usually splits into two. Here is the shape of it, and what your accountant will ask you for.

We build websites. We are not accountants and this is not tax advice. It is a plain explanation of how these costs are usually handled, so you know what to ask. The rules change and they depend on your situation. Confirm anything here with your own accountant or against current ATO guidance at ato.gov.au before you rely on it.

Almost every small business owner asks this at some point, usually just before deciding whether to go ahead. The short version is that money spent on a website for your business is recognised as a business cost. What surprises people is that it does not all get claimed the same way, or necessarily all in the same year.

The split that matters is between building the thing and running it.

The split

Building it, and running it

The cost	How it is usually treated
Building a new site, or a significant rebuild	Often capital in nature, which generally means written off over time rather than claimed in full in the year you paid. Small business concessions can change this, and the thresholds and eligibility rules have moved several times.
Hosting	Usually an ongoing running cost, generally deductible in the year it is incurred.
Domain renewal	Same. An annual cost of running the business, generally deductible when incurred.
Maintenance and small content updates	Generally treated as running costs. Updating your prices or swapping a photo is upkeep, not building something new.
Adding significant new functionality later	Can be treated more like the original build than like maintenance, depending on the scale of what was added.

This is the general shape, not a ruling. Where a particular cost lands can depend on the amount, your structure, and the rules for that income year. It is a five minute question for your accountant and they will know the current position.

Be ready

What your accountant will ask you

What exactly was it for

A new site, a rebuild, or fixing an existing one. The answer changes how it is treated, which is why an invoice that just says "website" is less useful than one that says what was done.

When did it go live

When the site started being used for the business can matter, not only when you paid the invoice. Worth writing the date down at the time, because nobody remembers it in July.

How much, and was there GST

A supplier not registered for GST cannot charge it, and their invoice will not show a GST line. That is normal for small operators and is not a problem, it just changes what you can claim back.

Is any of it personal

If the site is partly a personal project, only the business portion is generally claimable. Keep a note of how you worked the split out, made at the time rather than reconstructed later.

Keep these

What to hold on to

None of this is difficult, and all of it is much easier to keep now than to find in nine months.

A proper tax invoice

With the supplier's ABN, the date, what the work was and the amount. If somebody cannot give you an invoice with an ABN on it, that is worth pausing over for reasons well beyond tax.

Itemised where possible

Build separated from hosting separated from any ongoing care. They are often treated differently, and separating them on the invoice saves working it out backwards.

The go live date

One line in your records. Takes ten seconds.

Domain and hosting receipts

Usually small annual amounts, easily forgotten, and genuinely claimable as running costs. They add up across a few years.

While we are being straight

What we do about this

Every job gets a proper tax invoice from a registered Australian business, ABN 38 686 128 208, with the work itemised so your accountant can see what was a build and what was ongoing. We will tell you the go live date in writing.

What we will not do is tell you how to claim it. We do not know your structure, your income or your other assets, and a web designer guessing at your tax position helps nobody. Ask your accountant. It is a short conversation and they will have had it many times.

What a website costs Our prices

Fair questions

The things people ask

Can I claim the whole thing this year?

Sometimes, depending on the amount, your structure and which concessions apply that year. The rules have changed repeatedly, so anyone quoting a figure without asking about your situation is guessing.

Are hosting and the domain claimable?

Generally yes, as ongoing running costs in the year incurred. They are usually treated differently from the build, which is why itemising helps.

Is there GST on a website?

Only if the builder is registered for GST. If they are not, there is no GST line on the invoice, which is perfectly normal for a small operator.

What if I never actually launch it?

That is exactly the kind of question to put to your accountant rather than to us, and it is one reason we do not take payment until a site is live.

Free mockup

See your site before you buy it

Tell us the business name and what you do. We build a mockup of your own site and send it over, with no payment and no invoice involved until you have seen it and said yes.

Email us Message us Call us

0468 053 175 · [email protected]