The vocabulary of gift vouchers, the way the ATO and ACCC use it

A prepaid token - physical or digital - that entitles the holder to goods or services up to a specified value. In Australia, gift vouchers must be redeemable for at least three years under the Australian Consumer Law in most cases. Also commonly called a gift card.

Functionally identical to a gift voucher under Australian Consumer Law. The ACCC card rules apply equally to gift cards, gift vouchers, and store credit. VoucherGrid uses “gift voucher” as the primary term.

A gift voucher redeemable for a range of goods or services, where the customer chooses what to spend it on - for example, a “$100 gift card.” Under ATO/GSTR terminology, this is a face value voucher: GST is generally not reported at sale and is deferred until redemption.

A gift voucher tied to one named product or service - for example, a “60-minute remedial massage.” Under ATO rules, GST is generally reported at the time of sale because the supply is already identified. VoucherGrid uses the ATO/GSTR category name “non-face value voucher.”

Money received for goods or services not yet delivered. When a customer buys a $100 gift voucher, that $100 is a liability - deferred revenue - not income. Revenue is recognised only at redemption. See AASB 15.

Australian Accounting Standards Board standard 15: Revenue from Contracts with Customers. Requires businesses to recognise revenue when performance obligations are satisfied - for gift vouchers, that means at redemption, not at sale.

The portion of gift voucher value that is never redeemed. Industry data suggests 6-7% of gift voucher value becomes breakage, with significant variation by segment and transaction value. When a voucher expires with unredeemed balance, that balance can be recognised as income - with a corresponding GST increasing adjustment for face value vouchers.

The total outstanding value of unredeemed gift vouchers. This appears as a current liability on the balance sheet and must be tracked accurately for financial reporting, audit, and business sale purposes.

When a face value gift voucher expires with unredeemed balance, the business generally needs to report 1/11th of the unredeemed amount as a GST increasing adjustment on their next BAS, at label 1A. This is frequently missed by businesses managing vouchers manually.

The form Australian businesses use to report GST, PAYG, and other tax obligations to the ATO. Gift voucher GST treatment - particularly the timing difference between face value and non-face value vouchers - directly affects how and when amounts are reported on the BAS.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Enforces the gift card rules under the Australian Consumer Law, including the three-year minimum expiry requirement and the prohibition on post-purchase fees.

The national consumer protection framework that includes rules on gift voucher expiry, prohibited fees, and required disclosures. Penalties for non-compliance can reach $30,000 for businesses and $6,000 for individuals.

Since 1 November 2019, most gift vouchers sold in Australia must be redeemable for at least three years from the date of purchase. The ACCC lists exceptions - including some promotional vouchers, employee reward cards, loyalty programs, certain reloadable cards, and a handful of other categories - but for an ordinary paid gift voucher sold to a customer, three years is the floor.

A credit issued to a customer’s account, often as a refund alternative or compensation. Treated the same as a gift voucher under ACCC rules in most cases - must have a three-year minimum expiry and cannot have post-purchase fees that reduce the balance.

When a customer uses only part of a gift voucher’s value in a single transaction. The remaining balance stays active until the voucher is fully redeemed or expires. Accurate partial redemption tracking is one of the most common operational challenges for businesses managing vouchers manually.

A payment processing model where customer payments are processed directly on the merchant’s Stripe account, not the platform’s. VoucherGrid uses Stripe Connect with direct charges, meaning voucher payments go straight to the business’s bank account - VoucherGrid never holds merchant funds.

A chronological, append-only record of every action taken on a voucher - creation, delivery, redemption, resend, void. VoucherGrid maintains a complete audit trail for every voucher, used for customer dispute resolution, accounting compliance, and ATO queries.