Tax and accounting for NDIS therapy providers.
Whether you're an occupational therapist, speech pathologist, psychologist or physiotherapist delivering NDIS-funded therapy, you can generally claim your registration, clinical training and equipment against your income, and the purpose behind a piece of work, ongoing treatment versus a one-off assessment for the NDIA, is what decides whether GST applies. This guide covers what therapy providers typically claim, where GST gets complicated around functional capacity assessments and reports, and how billing across plan-managed, NDIA-managed and self-managed participants fits into Xero. We're Brisbane based and work with NDIS therapy providers across Australia.
Updated July 2026 · Reviewed by the LINK Advisors team
What ndis therapy providers can claim.
Ordered by typical value. Every claim still has to pass the ATO's tests: you paid for it, it relates to earning your income, and you can show a record.
Professional registration and indemnity insurance
Registration where applicable, and professional indemnity insurance, are generally deductible.
CPD and clinical training
Training relevant to NDIS practice standards and your clinical specialty is generally deductible.
Clinical supervision costs
Supervision required for your practice is generally deductible.
Assessment tools and therapy equipment
Testing kits and therapy equipment are generally deductible, either claimed outright or depreciated depending on cost.
Practice and case management software
Subscriptions to clinical and case management software are generally deductible.
Work vehicle
Travel for home, school or facility visits is generally deductible for its business-use portion.
NDIS worker screening checks
Screening checks are generally deductible as a cost of working with participants.
Telehealth platform subscriptions
Video consultation platforms used to deliver therapy remotely are generally deductible.
Mobile phone and data
The work-use portion of your phone and data for participant and support coordinator contact is generally deductible.
Admin and reporting time
Costs of preparing reports for plan reviews are generally deductible as part of running your practice.
GST and BAS, done right.
Therapy supports delivered under a participant's plan are generally GST-free where a plan is in effect and a written agreement covers the support, in the same way as other NDIS services. The complication for therapy providers specifically is assessment and report work: a functional capacity assessment prepared for the NDIA, or a report written for a purpose beyond the participant's own treatment, can sit outside the GST-free medical or NDIS support definition depending on what it's actually for.
This matters because a real share of many therapy providers' income comes from assessment and reporting work rather than ongoing treatment sessions, and treating all of it as automatically GST-free is one of the more common and avoidable errors we see.
Billing correctly across NDIA-managed, plan-managed and self-managed participants also affects your invoicing process, since the payment pathway differs even where the GST treatment of the underlying support is the same.
The right structure for the work.
Many NDIS therapy providers work across several practices or businesses as contractors while building their own caseload, which raises the same contractor-versus-employee question as allied health more broadly, worth reviewing against how each arrangement actually works day to day rather than assumed from the paperwork. As you move from contracting to running your own multi-clinician therapy practice, registration requirements and structure both need revisiting, since a growing practice carries different obligations than a single practitioner.
Run the work, we run the numbers.
Clinical software built for allied health, alongside NDIS-specific claiming tools, tracks sessions, goals and reports against each participant's plan, and connecting that to Xero keeps your service-line reporting clean across treatment, assessment and report income. We help set billing up so plan-managed, NDIA-managed and self-managed participants are all invoiced correctly without you needing to remember which pathway applies to whom.
Frequently asked questions.
Are my therapy sessions GST-free?
Generally yes, where a plan is in effect and a written agreement covers the support you're delivering.
What about functional capacity assessment reports?
These can fall outside the GST-free definition depending on their purpose, since they're often prepared for the NDIA rather than as the participant's own treatment. Worth checking the specific treatment for this part of your income.
Am I a contractor or employee if I work across several therapy providers?
It depends on how each arrangement actually works, not just what the paperwork calls it. Worth having each reviewed if you're working across multiple providers.
Do I need to register with the NDIS Commission?
It depends on how you operate and the scale of your practice. We can help you work through what's needed.
How do I manage billing between plan-managed, NDIA-managed and self-managed participants?
Each pathway has its own invoicing process, though the GST treatment of the underlying support is generally the same. We set Xero up so each one is handled correctly.
Talk to an accountant who knows therapy provider businesses.
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