For builders and trades · subcontractor checks
Know your subbies’ ABNs are still good before you pay them
Most builders set a subcontractor up once, on the first job, and never look at their ABN again. Three years and forty subbies later, a few of those numbers have been cancelled, dropped off GST, or never matched the name on the invoice. ClearABN checks the whole list against the Australian Business Register in a couple of minutes.
Why it matters at TPAR time
Building and construction is one of the services in the ATO’s taxable payments reporting system. The ATO says a business primarily in building and construction must lodge a Taxable payments annual report (TPAR) if it pays contractors or subcontractors for building and construction services and has an ABN. The 10% test that applies to cleaning, couriers, IT and security doesn’t apply to building and construction. The report is due by 28 August each year.
The ATO counts a business as primarily in building and construction if 50% or more of its income or activity this year, or of its income last year, comes from those services. Its definition is broad: concreting, bricklaying, plumbing, electrical, tiling, roofing, painting, landscaping construction, cabinet making for installation, project management and more.
For each subbie, the TPAR asks for their ABN (every ABN they used if it changed during the year), their name, their address, and the year’s totals paid, GST paid, and tax withheld where no ABN was quoted. The ATO’s own advice is to check that the ABN on each invoice matches your record, and to confirm the ABN, name and GST registration on ABN Lookup.
What usually turns up
The ABN was cancelled
A subbie stops trading, restructures into a company, or lets the ABN lapse, and keeps invoicing on the old number. Your contact card still looks fine.
GST registration ended
The invoice still says “includes GST”. The register says they haven’t been registered since March. That’s worth knowing before the GST credit goes on your BAS.
The name doesn’t match
You pay “Dave’s Tiling”. The ABN belongs to D & K Holdings Pty Ltd, or to someone else entirely because two digits got swapped.
There’s no ABN at all
New subbie, first job, “I’ll send it through”. It never arrives and the bill gets paid anyway.
If a subbie doesn’t give you an ABN
The ATO says that if a supplier doesn’t provide an ABN and the total payment is more than $75 excluding GST, you generally withhold the top rate of tax from the payment and pay it to the ATO. There are exceptions, and you can’t claim a GST credit on payments you withheld from. If a subbie has applied for an ABN, the ATO says you can hold payment until they quote it, but not pay in full on the promise that it’s coming. The no-ABN withholding calculator shows the amounts.
How to check your subbies
- 01
Once, for the whole list
Export contacts from Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks and run the free 25-supplier check, or the full bulk check for longer lists.
- 02
Then keep an eye on the ones that matter
Put your main subbie on the free ABN watch. You get an email only if it’s cancelled, GST registration ends or the registered name changes.
Your bookkeeper does the TPAR? Send them the TPAR guide for bookkeepers.
General information only
This page summarises the ATO’s published guidance in plain terms. It is general information only, not tax or financial advice, and it doesn’t cover every case. Whether you need to lodge a TPAR or withhold from a payment depends on your circumstances: read the ATO pages below or ask a registered tax or BAS agent. ClearABN reports what the Australian Business Register shows.
Start with the first 25
No account, no card, and nothing connects to your accounting file.
ClearABN shows Australian Business Register facts and the result of an ABN checksum. It does not provide tax, legal or financial advice. Links go to the ATO and the Australian Business Register so you can read their pages yourself.