Starts 1 July 2027/C2026A00064/Read from the authorised Act/Not legal advice; does not certify
Competition and Consumer CheckerThe Act, section by section
Section 48A(6)Scope or machinery

Base price and transaction based charge

A base price is a sum charged for the goods or services that includes the amount charged for those goods or services. A transaction based charge is a charge, or part of one, charged to the purchaser for the supply, not for the goods or services as such, and due at the same time as the price. Several kinds of charge are excluded.

Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Act 2026, Schedule 1, Part 2, item 15, section 48A(6) to (8)Starts 1 July 2027Part 2: drip pricing
The requirement

Classify each amount before applying the display duty. A tax, duty, fee or levy is not a base price. Optional charges, payment surcharges, taxes imposed on the supplier and prescribed charges are not transaction based charges.

Who it binds. Finance, pricing and product owners who decide what an amount is and where it appears.

Operative term. base price

Left to regulations. The list in this section can be added to by regulation. Check the regulations before treating the list as closed.

What this means in practice

The definitions decide the scope of the duty, so a misclassification is the most common way to miss it. A mandatory service fee added at checkout is the classic transaction based charge. A payment surcharge is excluded by the Act, as are taxes and charges imposed on the supplier. An optional charge, such as a gift wrap the consumer chooses, is excluded because it is payable at the purchaser option. The base price must include the amount for the goods or services themselves; a sum that is only a tax or levy is not a base price, while a price that includes GST is still a base price. Write the classification down for every amount in the checkout, with the paragraph that supports it.

How to test it

List every amount a purchaser can pay. For each one, ask three questions: is it charged for the goods or services themselves; is it payable at the same time as that price; and is it optional, a payment surcharge, a tax or a prescribed charge? Then decide whether it is part of the base price, a transaction based charge, or outside both. Keep the answer with the fee schedule. Re-test when a new fee, a new payment method or a new jurisdiction is added, because the classification can change.

Evidence to keep

The Act does not prescribe these records. They are the artefacts our reading says a regulator or auditor may ask for; keep the ones that fit your business and the provision.

  • Amount inventoryEvery amount in the checkout, its classification and the Act paragraph relied on.
  • Fee approvalThe finance approval for each fee, including whether it is mandatory or optional.
  • Payment surcharge recordThe evidence that a surcharge is a payment surcharge within Part IVC, if it is excluded.
  • Tax treatment noteThe tax or levy treatment, with the advice relied on.
  • Change logThe date a fee was added, reclassified or removed, and who approved it.

What to do first

  1. Give every checkout amount a classification and a supporting paragraph.
  2. Reconcile the fee schedule with what the checkout charges, and separate mandatory fees from optional extras.
  3. Review the classification whenever a payment method or fee changes.

Questions

Is a booking fee a transaction based charge?
It can be, if it is charged to the purchaser for the supply, is not an amount for the goods or services as such, and falls due at the same time as the price. The label does not decide it; the three conditions do.
Is a payment surcharge caught?
No. A surcharge covered by Part IVC of the CCA is excluded from the definition of transaction based charge.

Related sections

s 48A(2): Drip pricing dutys 48A(3): How to show it