GST for shared housing NZ: boarding, flatmates and short stay
Money from a boarder in a Dunedin villa, a flatmate splitting the power, a room by room tenant in a Wellington townhouse, and a Bookabach guest can look the same in your bank feed. Inland Revenue, Tenancy Services, and the GST Act 1985 each use a different test.
GST for shared housing follows whether the stay is accommodation in a dwelling (usually exempt) or a taxable supply such as visitor nights or a commercial dwelling. Income tax is a separate file. The $245 weekly standard cost for boarders is an income tax shortcut. It is not a GST rate, and it does not answer whether you register.
Audit in one line
If they live there as their main home in a dwelling, GST stays out. If they are a short stay guest, or the premises are a commercial dwelling, GST can come in. Count the $60,000 threshold across every taxable activity, not just the spare room.
Shared housing GST audit
Work these eight checks in order before you add 15% to a weekly figure or try to claim GST on rates.
Three files, one house
GST, income tax, and the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 answer different questions. Category home: Property & Assets GST Hub. Dwelling tests: dwelling vs commercial dwelling NZ.
| Arrangement | GST | Income tax (IRD room page) | Tenancy Services |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flatmate in a dwelling | Exempt accommodation in a dwelling if they occupy it as their main home | Passing rent to a landlord is not taxable. An owner who takes flatmates in uses actual cost | The Act covers tenants and landlords, not flatmates |
| Private boarder or home stay student in your home | Usually a dwelling (same premises as the supplier, main home). Commercial dwelling list is the exception | Standard cost may apply: $245 a week for 2025/26, four or fewer, many extra rules | Private board is not covered by the Act (unless everyone contracts in) |
| Room by room tenant, landlord does not live there, 5 tenants or fewer | Usually exempt residential rent if each occupier has a dwelling (main home plus quiet enjoyment) | Ordinary rental income, actual cost | Covered by the Act as a room by room tenancy |
| Short stay guest (a few nights, up to 4 consecutive weeks) | Taxable activity. Marketplaces collect 15% from 1 April 2024 | Short stay standard cost or actual cost. Not the boarder weekly rate | Not a residential tenancy of their home |
| Commercial dwelling (boarding house, hotel, motel, homestay, farmstay, B&B on the GST list) | GST on the stay, whatever the length. Reduced value rules after 4 weeks can apply off marketplace | Business income, not the private boarder shortcut if it is a GST taxable activity | A boarding house under the Act is a separate 6 person / 28 day test |
GST on boarding
GST on boarding in a private home is usually an exempt supply of accommodation in a dwelling, not output tax at 15%. Section 2 of the GST Act 1985 includes accommodation provided to a person who occupies the same premises, or part of those premises, as the supplier, and who occupies that place as their principal place of residence. Section 14(1)(c) then exempts the supply of accommodation in any dwelling by hire, a service occupancy agreement, or a licence to occupy.
Inland Revenue’s exempt supplies page (last updated 1 April 2026) states GST cannot be charged on the rent for a residential dwelling, and a landlord cannot claim GST on dwelling expenses such as maintenance, rates, and insurance. That is the same exempt versus claim split as GST on residential rent in NZ and exempt vs zero rated supplies.
The GST exception is the commercial dwelling list. Inland Revenue’s short stay marketplace page says GST applies to all supplies of accommodation in a commercial dwelling, for example a hotel, motel, boarding house, or camping ground, regardless of how long the stay lasts. The Act’s list also names homestay, farmstay, and bed and breakfast establishment. A house that looks residential can still be that kind of premises. Definitions sit in section 2 of the GST Act 1985.
Standard cost is not GST
Inland Revenue’s standard cost method for boarders and home stay students (last updated 15 June 2026) lets some individuals use a weekly rate of $245 for the 2025/26 income year, for up to four boarders. You cannot use it if the private boarding service is part of a GST taxable activity, or if the home is also used for short stay guests. Below that weekly rate you may have nothing to put on an IR3 for this income. That still does not mean you “register for GST”. Forum quizzes that pick GST registration as the answer to a below standard cost boarder are mixing two taxes.
GST on flatmates, and is flatmate income taxable
GST on flatmates in a dwelling is the same exempt residential rent rule: no GST on the weekly figure, and no GST claim on the house costs that sit with that exempt use. Inland Revenue’s GST and renting out residential property page (last updated 3 April 2024) says there is no GST to pay on rental income from long term residential renting, and you also cannot claim GST on those long term rental expenses.
Is flatmate income taxable is an income tax question. Inland Revenue’s renting out a room in my main home page says flatmates share a house, expenses, and chores. If you, or someone in your flat, collects rent from the others to pass on to your landlord, the income is not taxable. If you own a home and get flatmates in, you may have tax to pay. Use the actual cost method. Boarders are different: part of what they pay is for services such as meals or laundry. Inland Revenue also publishes Boarders, flatmates and tenants IR1037 (June 2025) on that page.
Tenancy Services’ flatting page says the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 only covers tenants and landlords, not flatmates. A flatmate who did not sign the tenancy is responsible to the tenant for their share, not to the landlord. Disputes between tenants or flatmates go to the Disputes Tribunal, not the Tenancy Tribunal. That tribunal split does not change GST.
Pull highlight: Cost sharing through a named tenant’s bank account is not GST. Profit on a room in a house you own can still be income tax under actual cost, while GST stays exempt if the stay is accommodation in a dwelling.
GST on short term accommodation NZ
GST on short term accommodation NZ starts when the guest is not using the place as their home. Inland Revenue’s room in main home page says renting for short stays is a few nights or up to 4 consecutive weeks at a time. That excludes renting out to flatmates or boarders. It is usually the type of renting offered through services like Airbnb or Bookabach. Renting out a room in your main home for short stays is a taxable activity for GST. You only have to register and file if turnover from all your taxable activities is over $60,000 for the year, including that short stay rental income.
IS 20/04 (GST treatment of short stay accommodation) records that short stay, as used in that statement, is not the guest’s principal place of residence and will not be an exempt supply of accommodation in a dwelling. Registering still needs a taxable activity carried on continuously or regularly. Occasional or intermittent nights, for example a one off sporting event, will not be enough on that statement. Threshold walkthrough: $60,000 GST threshold guide and register for GST in NZ. Marketplace walkthrough: Airbnb and short term rentals.
From 1 April 2024, if you provide short stay through an online marketplace such as Airbnb, Bookabach, or Holiday Houses, the platform collects and pays the GST to Inland Revenue. Direct website bookings follow ordinary GST rules if you are required to register. Inland Revenue’s short stay and visitor accommodation page (last updated 14 August 2025) says unregistered hosts keep an 8.5% flat rate credit when the marketplace collects 15%. You can choose whether that credit is assessable income. The reduced GST value rules for stays of 4 weeks or more do not apply to marketplace supplies. Section 10(6B) of the GST Act 1985 says the same thing.
Inland Revenue’s GST and your short stay rental income page (last updated 6 November 2025) adds salary and wages stay out of the $60,000 count. If a rental is jointly owned, do not add that rental income to each person’s own turnover. In a partnership, the partnership is the registered person. Inland Revenue’s Joe and Pierre example: they jointly own the home, each already has self employed turnover under $60,000, and $6,000 of Airbnb room income is treated as belonging to them together, so neither adds it to their own turnover. If Joe alone owns the house, that $6,000 is added only to Joe’s plumbing turnover, and he must register because the combined figure is more than $60,000. Associated persons are taxed at market value, even if family stays cheap or free.
If you are GST registered for the short stay activity and you later sell the property or stop that use, Inland Revenue’s renting page flags GST on sale and change in use adjustments. Walkthrough: GST change of business use NZ.
Boarding house under tenancy law is not the GST switch on its own
Tenancy Services’ room by room page (last updated 28 March 2024) says a room by room tenancy is 5 tenants or fewer, the landlord does not live there, each tenant has their own agreement, and they share commons. That is different from private board (owner lives on site) and different from a boarding house tenancy: intended 6 or more tenants, each stay intended at least 28 days. The are you operating a boarding house page (last updated 24 February 2022) asks whether six or more people share the accommodation by renting a room, and whether people live there for 28 days or longer.
GST does not copy that 6 person count. The GST Act names a boardinghouse as a commercial dwelling. A homestay or farmstay can be a commercial dwelling with far fewer beds. Comment pieces that treat “six room by room tenants equals GST at 15%” skip the dwelling tests: principal place of residence, quiet enjoyment, and whether the premises are on the commercial dwelling list. Get advice on the facts before you register the house as if it were a motel.
Use case: Dunedin teacher, one boarder
Situation: Hypothetical. One student lives in the house as their main home, evening meals included, $220 a week. No Airbnb. GST: Accommodation in a dwelling, exempt, no GST claim on rates. Income tax: $220 sits below the $245 weekly standard cost for 2025/26 if every eligibility rule is met. Action: Keep the lanes separate. Worksheet IR1255 (June 2026) if you need to check the income tax side.
Use case: Christchurch boarding house Ltd
Situation: Hypothetical GST registered operator, commercial dwelling, guest stays 6 weeks. Not listed through a marketplace. GST: Charge GST. Inland Revenue’s GST on short stay and commercial accommodation page (last updated 13 December 2023) says full value for the first 4 weeks, then GST on 60% of domestic goods and services. Food stays fully taxable. If you agreed up front the stay would be more than 4 weeks, the 60% rule can apply from day one for those domestic items. Action: Split bed from breakfast. Add or strip 15% on a figure that is already in the GST net with the free GST calculator.
15% on a taxable stay: Inland Revenue’s charging GST page (last updated 1 April 2026) says registered persons charge 15% on most taxable supplies, either $100 plus GST ($115) or GST inclusive (3/23 of $100 is $13.04). That maths is for a taxable commercial dwelling or short stay supply. It is not for exempt dwelling rent.
The mixed listing trap
A spare room that is a boarder’s home on weekdays and an Airbnb listing on weekends fails the boarder standard cost eligibility rule that the home is not used for both boarders and short stay guests. It can also put you in the GST taxable activity for those visitor nights. Marketplace listed short stay is not “the same as a boarder because they sleep in a bedroom”. Inland Revenue’s listed services page excludes boarders from short stay and visitor accommodation.
FAQs
Read Inland Revenue’s room in main home page, the boarder standard cost page, GST and renting out residential property, short stay and visitor accommodation, and GST on short stay and commercial accommodation. Tenancy Services owns flatting, room by room, and boarding house labels. Publisher path: About Us and Contact Us.
Last verified 4 September 2026 against Inland Revenue (room in main home, boarder standard cost, exempt supplies, GST and renting out residential property, GST and your short stay rental income, short stay and visitor accommodation, GST on short stay and commercial accommodation, registering for GST, charging GST), IS 20/04, the GST Act 1985 ss 2, 10(6), 10(6B), and 14(1)(c), and Tenancy Services (flatting, room by room tenancy, are you operating a boarding house). Ads may fund this free site. Not tax advice. Figures are working papers, not an Inland Revenue assessment.