Do You Need an ABN? Delivery Apps, Gig Work and Freelancing

You've downloaded a delivery app, filled in your name and bank details, and the next field asks for your ABN. Or a first freelance client has asked you to send an invoice with an ABN on it. If you've only ever had a job with a payslip, it's not obvious whether you're supposed to have one, or what you're signing up for if you get one.

The answer comes down to one question: are you working for someone as an employee, or working for yourself?

What an ABN is

An ABN, or Australian business number, is an 11-digit number that identifies a business to clients, platforms and the government. As a sole trader, you and the business are the same legal person, with you as the only owner.

An ABN doesn't replace your tax file number, the personal number you already use for your job and your tax return. You keep that, and the ABN sits alongside it for the work you do for yourself.

When you can apply and when you'll need one

You're entitled to an ABN when you're running or starting a business. You're not entitled to one for work you do as an employee, because your employer is the business and you're on its payroll.

Delivery and rideshare apps often sign people up as independent contractors: people who work for themselves and provide a service to the platform, rather than employees of it. That's why the sign-up asks for an ABN. Freelancing works the same way when you're doing it regularly, for profit and in an organised way, such as taking on design or editing jobs from several clients.

Here's how it looks for Jae, a made-up uni student who works casual shifts at a café and delivers food through an app on weekends.

Jae doesn't need an ABN for the café, but does for the deliveries. Covered delivery contractors have minimum pay and other protections from 17 August 2026. Selling your own old things or doing the odd favour for a neighbour usually isn't a business at all; our guide to side hustles and tax explains where that line sits.

What the app calls you isn't the final word. Whether someone is really a contractor depends on the whole working relationship, and the Fair Work Ombudsman has information to help you check. If you think you've been signed up as a contractor for what is really a job, they're a good first place to ask.

How to get an ABN

You apply on the Australian Business Register website, usually as a sole trader, and it's free. Some private websites charge to submit the same form, so check you're on abr.gov.au before you start. You'll need:

• your tax file number
• the date you'll start the work, no more than six months away
• a short description of the work, such as food delivery or tutoring
• your contact details and address.

If everything checks out, you'll usually get your ABN as soon as you finish the application. Sometimes it needs a closer look, and that review can take up to 20 business days.

What changes once you have one

An ABN itself doesn't change how tax is collected. Platforms and clients usually pay without income-tax withholding, so you settle the tax on your individual return alongside any wages, less any PAYG instalments, payments towards that tax made during the year. Your ABN income is added to your other income and taxed at the same rates, after the costs of earning it.

Before PAYG instalments start, tax on a July 2026 payout may not be due until November 2027.

You can put a share of each payout aside when it arrives, before it becomes everyday spending. Our guide to side hustles and tax suggests how much, depending on your total income, and how tax brackets work explains why that share depends on what else you earn.

The costs of doing the work, such as phone data, a delivery bag or bike repairs, can be claimed against your ABN income when you keep a record of them. Our tax deductions guide explains how to work out the work share of something you also use privately.

Two more things to allow for:

• Super. An employer adds 12% on top of your wages, but a platform often doesn't. You can still make your own contributions, and some contractors paid mainly for their labour are owed super anyway. Our guide to super in your first job explains how contributions reach your fund.
• GST. Rideshare drivers must register for GST from their first trip, whatever they earn. For food delivery, freelancing and most other work, you only need to register when combined business sales reach, or are expected to reach, $75,000 over 12 months.

Planning around payouts that change

ABN income rarely arrives in neat, equal amounts. A wet Friday night can pay well, and a quiet week can pay very little, so a steady amount to live on helps more than reacting to each payout. Our guide to budgeting on an irregular income shows how to set one.

We are building Clova, a budgeting app for planning each payout after allowing for tax.

If an app has just asked for your ABN, the application itself is free and usually quick. The habit that matters more is the one that follows: treating part of every payout as already spoken for.

A note from us

With tax allowed for, you can plan from what each payout leaves you.