- Short answer
- Yes, for a later-period refund or price cut over A$75 of GST: 28 days from a request, or from learning of it if a tax invoice was issued or requested.
- Same tax period
- A refund in the same tax period as the sale creates no adjustment, so no note.
- Small adjustments
- No note needed when the GST adjusted is A$75 or less — the GST, not the refund.
- No tax invoice issued or requested
- Then you issue a note only if the customer asks for one.
- In Shopify
- Help pages we read in October 2026 describe no adjustment-note type; Blank template is early access.
- Order refund email
- Sent automatically on a refund; the help pages we read don't present it as an adjustment note.
When does a refund or discount need an adjustment note?
For GST-registered sellers, a refund for returned goods or a later price cut, such as a rebate, triggers this ATO rule:
A supplier must issue an adjustment note for an adjustment arising from an adjustment event within 28 days of the earlier of their receiving a request from the recipient of the supply, or their becoming aware of the adjustment (where the supplier issued or was requested to issue a tax invoice).
So once a tax invoice went out or was requested, a refund or price cut in a later tax period starts the 28 days. Otherwise a note is due only on request; when a tax invoice is due is a separate rule.
When can you skip the adjustment note?
Same tax period: a refund in the same tax period as the sale creates no adjustment, so no note.
Small adjustments: no note when the GST adjusted is A$75 or less. That is the GST, not the refund: in the ATO's example, an A$660 discount carries A$60 of GST.
The current ATO page's example and an older rebates page (April 10, 2017) say “below the $75 threshold”, but GST Act s 29-80(2) lifts the duty to issue a note when the adjustment “does not exceed” it, so exactly A$75 needs none.
How do you produce an adjustment note from Shopify?
Any form works, electronic included, if it shows each of these details that applies:
- that it is an adjustment note, and its effect;
- your identity, including your ABN;
- the customer's identity or ABN, if the tax invoice was A$1,000 or more;
- the issue date;
- a brief reason for the adjustment;
- the GST adjustment amount;
- the price difference before and after the event.
Shopify help pages we read on October 22, 2026 (document templates, Order Printer, notifications, refunds, taxes) describe no adjustment-note document. Document templates (early access as of October 2026) include a Blank template for “any other document types that your business might need.”
Those pages don't present the automatic Order refund email as one. Our reading: any document carrying every detail that applies qualifies, such as a Blank template note.
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