Written quotes, and receipts that are tax invoices

The written quote

Queensland’s rule is short and strict. Before a booked hire service, give the hirer a written fare estimate, including any circumstances in which the fare could be higher and how the extra would be worked out. Charging more than that is an offence.

Online bookings were easy: the price is on the screen. Phone bookings needed more thought, because a price said over the phone is not a written estimate. I found that gap in our own design and closed it before our first trip under our own BEA. Since 6 October 2026:

• every booking gets a written quote, by text, or by email for a rider without a mobile;
• the “confirm” button does not work until the quote has gone;
• the quote is a ceiling. Our fares can only go down from it, never up;
• the only extra we ever charge is the one the quote already explains: waiting time beyond what was included on a Wait & Return trip, worked out from recorded times.

The receipt

The law asks for an itemised receipt if the hirer requests one. Consumer law has its own rules on proof of a transaction. And because a booked hire service is taxi travel for GST, and the company has been registered for GST since 4 April 2013, a receipt should also be a tax invoice.

So since 6 October 2026, a receipt goes automatically after every finished trip, whether the rider asked or not:

• it is built from the booking record, not typed: the fare and how it was made up, the times, where from and where to;
• if the record disagrees with itself (say, the fare doesn’t add up), the system refuses to send it and asks a person to look;
• every receipt is also a tax invoice: “Total includes GST of $X”;
• on a ride day, if we keep a deposit because a booking was cancelled late, a tax invoice for the deposit goes by email.

What I’d tell you

Ask your accountant about GST before your first direct trip. The ATO says ride-sourcing drivers must register for GST regardless of turnover. Some cases, like a kept deposit, are worth asking about specifically.

General information, not legal or tax advice.