GST for fishing and forestry NZ
GST on fishing work and GST on forestry work: what commercial catch, quota, ACE, timber, forestry rights, and ETS units actually do on a GST return, beyond ordinary farm livestock rules.
This guide is for New Zealand commercial fishers, quota and ACE holders, foresters, and holders of forestry rights. It is not a farmhouse or livestock walkthrough. The standard rate is still 15% on most taxable supplies, and the $60,000 rolling 12 month test still decides when you must register. Figures are working papers for the 2026/27 year (1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027). GSTCalc.nz is not Inland Revenue (IRD). Ads may fund this free site. This is not tax advice.
Checked against IRD public rulings on fishing quota and forestry rights, interpretation statements IS 25/13 (forestry ETS) and IS 25/22 (secondhand goods), GST Act 1985 sections 8, 11A, 3A and 20, FishServe published fees (GST inclusive), MPI forestry ETS service fees, and IRD zero rated supplies for exports. Dairy, sheep, and farmhouse rules stay on the farming guide.
Fishing work
Catch sold in New Zealand is usually 15% once you are GST registered. Quota and ACE are not secondhand goods. Buying them from an unregistered person does not create a 3÷23 credit. FishServe permit, ACE, quota, and vessel fees are published GST inclusive.
Forestry work
Logs, silviculture, and harvest services are usually 15%. A used forestry right bought from an unregistered seller can, if IRD’s tests are met, support a secondhand goods credit. NZUs transferred or surrendered in the ETS are zero rated, not 15%.
This sits in Industry Specific GST, next to farming and agriculture GST. Secondhand claims: GST on second hand goods NZ. Exported catch or logs: exporting goods from NZ. IRD pegs: IS 25/13 forestry ETS, fishing quota rulings (now BR Pub 15/01), and BR Pub 07/01 forestry rights.
Rate map
Use the free GST calculator to add or remove 15% on a landing price or a log invoice. Do not run that 15% tool on an NZU transfer.
| Supply | If you are GST registered | IRD peg |
|---|---|---|
| Fish, shellfish, or logs sold in NZ | 15% | Ordinary taxable supply of goods |
| Catch or timber exported in your name with evidence | 0% | IRD zero rated exported goods |
| Silviculture, harvest, skipper, or processing services in NZ | 15% | Taxable services |
| Buy fishing quota or ACE from an unregistered person | No secondhand goods credit | BR Pub 15/01: quota is not “goods” |
| Buy a used forestry right from an unregistered person | 3÷23 credit if ruling tests are met | BR Pub 07/01 |
| Transfer or surrender NZUs (forestry ETS) | 0% | IS 25/13; GST Act s 11A(1)(s) to (w) |
| FishServe permit, ACE, quota, vessel fees | GST is already in the published fee | Claim input tax if the fee supports taxable supplies |
| Livestock or primary produce bought privately | Not a secondhand goods credit | IS 25/22: livestock excluded; primary produce generally not secondhand |
GST on fishing work
Commercial fishing is a taxable activity when you supply catch or related services for consideration on a continuous or regular basis. Recreational bag limits, pāua, and cray diving are MPI amateur rules, not GST registration. Quora threads about “how do I legally dive for crayfish” are licence and bag questions. They do not create a GST refund path.
Once registered, landings sold to a licensed fish receiver in New Zealand are usually 15%. If the receiver issues buyer created taxable supply information, do not also issue your own document for the same sale. That double count trap is the same shape as livestock BCTIs on the farming guide.
Crew share, wages, or contractor invoices are a classification issue. Employee skippers and deckhands sit in PAYE. People who invoice as contractors sit in withholding and, if registered, charge GST on the invoice. Those are not the same tax. Classification: contractors vs employees GST trap. The old public answer that you register at $40,000 is stale. The current test is $60,000 in a rolling 12 months, or you add GST to prices: $60,000 GST threshold guide.
Quota is not a Trade Me van
People ask accountants whether buying individual transferable quota or ACE from an unregistered holder lets them claim 3÷23, the way a used truck would. IRD says no. Fishing quota (ITQ and ACE under the Fisheries Acts) are unique statutory rights, not goods. BR Pub 03/07 was reissued as BR Pub 09/04, then replaced by BR Pub 15/01, which IS 25/22 still treats as current. Coastal permits and certificates of compliance are the same shape under BR Pub 15/02: not goods, so no secondhand credit. No secondhand goods input tax credit on that purchase.
FishServe’s public fee table shows GST inclusive amounts (for example a one year fishing permit at $114.49 including GST, and an electronic ACE transfer at $17.71 including GST). If you are registered and the fee is for your taxable activity, the GST fraction is claimable. Cost recovery levies invoiced by FishServe for MPI are a different statutory charge: keep the tax invoice and claim only where GST was actually charged.
A Hunting and Fishing NZ pricing policy that “all prices include GST” describes retail sporting goods. It does not set the GST on your commercial catch.
GST on forestry work
Growing timber for harvest is a taxable activity. Owning the forest in your own name does not skip GST. If you supply timber, rights, or related services on a continuous or regular basis, the $60,000 test and voluntary registration still apply. Silviculture, roading used in the forest business, harvest, cartage, and log sales in New Zealand are usually 15% when you are registered. NZ Farm Forestry’s taxation leaflet is mostly income tax (forester versus farmer, spreading harvest income). Do not copy those income tax deductions onto the GST return. GST follows whether a supply is taxable, zero rated, or outside the secondhand goods rules.
Standing timber sold with land can sit under compulsory zero rating of land when both parties are registered and the other land tests are met. That is a land GST question: GST on property sales NZ. Harvested logs sold as goods are not automatically zero rated just because they grew on the block.
Pull highlight: BR Pub 07/01 still says a forestry right (Forestry Rights Registration Act 1983) is a good, and can be secondhand, if a prior owner has used it to establish, maintain, or harvest. First creation of a brand new right is not a secondhand sale.
Purchase $20,000, paid in four quarterly instalments of $5,000.
GST credit in the period you pay the first $5,000 = $5,000 × 3 ÷ 23 = $652.17.
The 2007 ruling example used the old 12.5% fraction. Today’s tax fraction on an inclusive amount is 3÷23. Only if BR Pub 07/01 tests are met, including prior use of the right. Claim only to the extent paid in that taxable period.
ETS units: do not add 15%
IS 25/13 (April 2025) is the forestry ETS statement. NZUs are services for GST, not goods. Most supplies of NZUs are zero rated under section 11A(1)(s) to (w): transfers, surrenders for emissions, and similar verified units. The fact sheet is blunt: all transfers of NZUs are zero rated, so there is no GST amount on purchases, receipts, surrenders, or sales of NZUs.
Some overseas write ups say a GST registered forester must charge 15% on NZU sales and claim GST on NZU purchases. That is the opposite of IS 25/13. Carbon lease payments for land or management can still be ordinary 15% services. Far North Carbon’s public note that lease GST can differ from unit sales is the right split: check the lease against the unit transfer, do not treat them as the same supply.
IS 25/24 covers ETS industries other than forestry (emissions intensive and trade exposed, some horticulture). Fishing catch GST is not rewritten by that statement. Forestry ETS GST stays on IS 25/13. MPI forestry ETS service fees are published excluding and including GST. Those fees are administration, not a 15% tax on the carbon itself.
Checklist before you file
What happened on the water and in the trees
Use case: Nelson inshore skipper
Situation: GST registered. Sells wet fish to an LFR for $23,000 including GST, and pays FishServe electronic ACE transfer $17.71 including GST. GST: output $3,000 on the catch; input $2.31 on the ACE fee. Buys $80,000 of ACE from an unregistered family company. Action: no 3÷23 claim on that ACE. File the catch GST. Keep the FishServe tax invoice.
Use case: Rotorua forestry right
Situation: GST registered small woodlot buyer pays an unregistered neighbour $20,000 for a forestry right the neighbour has already used to plant and thin. Paid in four $5,000 hits. GST: secondhand goods credit on each payment if BR Pub 07/01 holds. Action: record seller name, address, date, description of the right, and amount paid. Do not treat a brand new right created yesterday the same way.
Use case: post 1989 ETS sale
Situation: Forester sells NZUs for cash. GST: zero rated transfer under IS 25/13. Income tax on the sale is a separate IR3 or company return issue. Action: put 0% on the GST return line for that supply, keep the registry evidence, and do not add 15% because a website said so.
Questions people actually ask
Can I claim GST when I buy fishing quota from someone who is not registered?
No secondhand goods credit. Inland Revenue treats fishing quota, including ITQ and ACE, as statutory rights that are not goods. BR Pub 15/01 (and the earlier BR Pub 09/04 and BR Pub 03/07 line) says a GST registered buyer cannot claim a secondhand goods input tax credit on quota bought from an unregistered person.
Can I claim GST on a forestry right bought from an unregistered seller?
Sometimes. BR Pub 07/01 says a forestry right can be a secondhand good if the sale is not a taxable supply, the right is in New Zealand, you buy it to make taxable supplies, you have paid in that period, and a prior owner has used the right for its intrinsic purpose (establish, maintain, or harvest). A newly created right that nobody has used is not secondhand.
Is there GST on New Zealand Units from the forestry ETS?
Transfers and surrenders of NZUs are zero rated. IS 25/13 states NZUs are services, not goods, and most supplies of NZUs are zero rated under GST Act section 11A(1)(s) to (w). You do not add 15% on an NZU sale, and you do not claim 15% on an NZU purchase. That is different from 15% GST on logs, silviculture, or fishing catch.
Does recreational fishing or a Hunting and Fishing shop receipt tell me the GST on commercial catch?
No. Recreational harvest is not a taxable activity. A Hunting and Fishing NZ shelf price includes 15% GST because that retailer is selling goods. Commercial GST sits on your catch sales, ACE and quota dealings, FishServe fees, and vessel costs once you are registered.
Last verified 3 September 2026 against IRD BR Pub 15/01 and 15/02 (fishing quota and coastal permits), BR Pub 07/01 (forestry rights), IS 25/13 and fact sheet (forestry ETS GST), IS 25/22 (secondhand goods, livestock, primary produce), IS 25/24 (other ETS industries, forestry excluded), GST Act 1985 ss 8, 11A(1)(s) to (w), 3A and 20, FishServe costs page, MPI forestry ETS service fees, and IRD zero rated supplies. Ads may fund this free site. Not Inland Revenue. Not tax advice. Publisher: About us and Contact.