Thread: July the 1st 2018 GST On Low Value Imported Goods

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

I suppose this could all be an over-cumbersome nightmare deliberately designed to fail. That way the Govt can kill it after the 3 year trial and say to Harvey - "Look, we tried and it cost us too much money to satisfy you. Better not donate to us any more."

Fingers crossed.

Well they can take their 80c I don't give a rats as there are a million and 1 tool shops in china that wouldn't come close to the $75k level and good luck to the gov chasing a tool supplier from the shenzhou provence. Unfortunately we all have to bear the brunt of the already overtaxed cost of goods in this country. I loved Amazon, I was able to buy a cd and including the cross rate and freight it was still cheaper to buy than to walk up to mid-city centre HMV and buy it. I even bought a solid set of crows feet spanners incuding freight was cheaper than the cheapest set here.

there could be a lot of $2.00 packages coming in.

Could you imagine if this process were reversed?

Lets say that Bulgaria imposed the same set of rules on us.

What would a retailer do?

They would stop taking orders from Bulgarians. The End. Too small to matter, too big a PITA.

I think Midnight Mans hypothesis in post 16 will be the case... i.e. refusal to deal with AU consumers. We will be put in the Too Hard basket and forgotten about for a year or 3...

Expect complete chaos, service denials and duplication of collections. My earlier point remains unanswered... what is stopping an overseas company charging us "GST" and simply keeping it! Just what is the ATO going do about that??? Hmmm.....

What a complete disaster.

Originally Posted by woodPixel

My earlier point remains unanswered... what is stopping an overseas company charging us "GST" and simply keeping it! Just what is the ATO going do about that??? Hmmm.....

Unanswered no longer. If you can provide proof (invoice) that the GST has been charged/paid then it doesn't have to be paid again (refer to the OP link). In other words, that will be a problem for the ATO. And I don't give a tinker's rat's about that.

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

Unanswered no longer. If you can provide proof (invoice) that the GST has been charged/paid then it doesn't have to be paid again (refer to the OP link). In other words, that will be a problem for the ATO. And I don't give a tinker's rat's about that.

I suspect that the ATO doesn't give a rat's either

From the ATO site:

If you're an Australian GST-registered business you should not be charged GST when purchasing [low value] goods for your business use if you provide your supplier:

• your ABN and
• a statement that you are registered for GST.

If you're charged GST incorrectly, speak to your supplier. Note that not all receipts that have GST applied will be tax invoices. They will need to contain an ABN to be considered a tax invoice. Overseas suppliers may be registered in the simplified GST system and have an ARN instead of an ABN. More information is provided below under information for business purchasers.


Date this page last modified: 12 Jun 2018 !!



and then there is this gem:

Incorrectly charged GST

You should not be charged GST if you provide your ABN and state you are registered.
If you are charged GST incorrectly, you should seek a refund from the supplier by providing your ABN and stating to them that you are registered for GST.
However, if you are incorrectly charged GST on goods you import for your business, you will be entitled to a GST credit if:

• you would otherwise be entitled to claim a GST credit
• you have a valid tax invoice (showing the supplier's ABN) or the amount you paid is A$82.50 or less
• the supplier has not reimbursed you for the GST charged on the sale (if you later receive a reimbursement, you will need to make an adjustment to repay any GST credits you have claimed), and
• you have no information to suggest that the GST has not been paid to the ATO by the supplier.

GST will be charged at the border when goods are imported with a customs value over A$1,000 (even if the supplier incorrectly charged GST on the sale). You may be able to claim a GST credit for the taxable importation. However, some goods are non-taxable importations.

The opportunities for fraud boggle the mind!

Personal experience.

i trade on Etsy. They have been applying Great Sucky Tax to my transactions,and withholdingfor a little while now. The first couple of months they stuffed it up big time. The reporting showed that up to 22% had been withheld. Spoke with the ATO and my accountant . Both had the same response, you have a doc that says what has been withheld and we take that as being true and correct. Therefore the statements can be bought into accounts as that amount of tax has been paid. Whether or not Etsy actually remit is not my concern,at all. My concern is that the remittance advices and the reporting make clear statements and can be applied to my overall burden.

i have neither the right or the obligation to pay further tax upon a shipment which states that Great Sucky Tax has been applied. I have a doc that says it was, or wasn’t.

ATO’s problem, not mine.

Ask your suppliers to always state that Great Sucky Tax has been levied. Our government has nil control of foreign business entities, and nor do we as consumers or business. Let the reports be generated, the invoices raised, and the credits be accounted for.

They have made a BIG mistake.

The answer was to collect at border.

They have chosen to not go down this path. More fool them, at the detriment of the legislative intention. Why oh why do we continue to vote for these morons?

well and good if you are a business -- you have an invoice, the invoice shows the great sucky tax has been paid at some rate, so it becomes an input against your tax liability. If you have paid too much you just off set the over-payment against your liability.


BUT, many on here are end consumers
It's quite conceivable that they could pay the GST tax three times and if they do, it appears their only recourse is to "take it up with the supplier"


how would you pay GST three times?
once to the o/s merchant
once to the freight forwarder -- who can't be bothered checking which items in a shipment are GST paid and which are not (too much like hard work) so just add GST to the lot.
and then at the border because the freight forwarder's paperwork doesn't "comply"

Surely the GST wouldn't be charged if it is shipped within the USA. The retailer wouldn't even know the purchaser was an Aussie.

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

Surely the GST wouldn't be charged if it is shipped within the USA. The retailer wouldn't even know the purchaser was an Aussie.

Are you using and Aussie credit card? Some US retailers won't sell to you now if you use an Aussie Credit card.

That's always been the case, and can happen with Paypal too. All of this depends on how switched on the retailers are. If they are not shipping to Oz then no GST should be applied (even if they have worked out that it's an Aussie card/account being used).

good news everybody: https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2018/06/a...hat-youll-get/

Originally Posted by woodPixel

good news everybody: https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2018/06/a...hat-youll-get/

Maybe good news, maybe not. My understanding (and this might be where I'm going wrong) is that if I join Amazon Prime here, I need to use the AU site to shop on - I can't shop on the US site and then say "But I'm a Prime member in AU".

Let's pretend I'm a one-eyed Freud blade fan, and want their double sided melamine blade (yes, I know, I keep banging on about this, but it's a classic example of the problem).

The Australian distributor gives you a quizzical look when you ask for it as if you've asked them for an abominable snowman or something equally esoteric.

If I go to Amazon US site looking for it, no problem! https://www.amazon.com/Freud-Double-...70_&dpSrc=srch Even ships to Australia for peanuts

Go to Amazon Australia (let's say you joined Prime because, well, free shipping, y'know) - you get this result for the same search: https://www.amazon.com.au/s/ref=nb_s...words=LU97R010

No blade for you...

Agreed. The solution is imperfect.

I personally love the Freud P410. (Just added that melamine blade!) ... Guess I'll need to use the mail redirector for a few things.

But, I was looking at a few things last week that wernt there (abralon) and yesterday they appeared as if by magic. All of them. I suspect they will "learn" what people want and add them to the available list over time.

No doubt it will be... Interesting.