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

Originally Posted by Enfield Guy

My understanding. I could be very wrong, it has happened before!

Whether or not the invoice states it is a tax invoice or not matters not. Once again, we can’t make Amazon do that. If GST ,or Tax of any sort is listed on the document and you are a business entitled to claim that GST because it is a business input. Then claim it. Many states in the US have their own particular taxes that Amazon and the like manage.

my first statement for Etsy contained a couple of gross errors withholding far more than they were entitled to. As my accountant explained, it all comes out in the wash.

Prior to July 1st. I had to separate between input that has 10% GST and input like bank charges and purchases from the US that attracts 0%. But I guess now as a business, I can just claim 10% of everything that I purchase from overseas, regardless whether my supplier charges me GST or not.

Originally Posted by justonething

Prior to July 1st. I had to separate between input that has 10% GST and input like bank charges and purchases from the US that attracts 0%. But I guess now as a business, I can just claim 10% of everything that I purchase from overseas, regardless whether my supplier charges me GST or not.

Let me know how that works out

I went to this page https://www.amazon.com.au/b?node=5801287051 and saw this......

FREE Standard International Delivery

Get free delivery on eligible orders over $49 shipped from Amazon US when you shop from amazon.com.au.

---

• Available on millions of eligible items

Does this mean the US site is again available to Australian customers who are Amazon Prime members?

No, I think you'll find you get blocked when you try to checkout with an Aussie delivery address.

Chris is correct. It's the AU site though. But you do indeed get free delivery on OS held items when you are a Prime member.

It isn't everything, but the list is growing daily.

I'd imagine their AU system is learning what we want to buy by munging* all the searches, buys, baskets and abandons. It can then slurp in all the data generated on their overseas sites to form a pretty good idea of what needs to be carried here.

These are learning systems designed to maximize profit while minimising time, stockholding, sales loss and movements.



* Munging is the mass absorption of raw data and chewing on it to extract meaning.

I'm only familiar with Munging on burgers, and slurping schooners of grog.

Went to buy a bunch of things off Axminster.

Noticed they are charging the 10%, but also on orders totalling > $1000.

Now, they aren't to know the BS nature of how we'll get doubly taxed - vendor and again by customs.

Has anyone encountered and overcome this scenario yet?

I'm sure an email to Axminster will work it out, but Id say they'd be disinclined to give too much attention to a single rambling Aussie lunatic....

edit: wrote this email (will post response):

Hi Axminster,

I wish to buy a few more things. The total is aud$1400.

As you have correctly done, GST is payable for all orders <$1000 to Australia, but your system erroneously charges them for orders totalling more than AUD$1000.

For these larger orders, GST is not collected by you, but by our all-loving customs upon import. They also tack on an additional "processing fee" for their efforts to collect it off us. If you charge GST and they do too, one is effectively taxed twice. There is no mechanism to reclaim overpaid GST from our benevolent overlords/government... they say "refer back to the vendor".

A catch-22.

Now, it is impossible for you to know the arcane nature of Australian GST and how it even remotely applies to companies overseas, but I felt compelled to write as your larger-order clients will be saying the same to you continuously. It will begin to affect your larger orders. Clients will go elsewhere.

Now, we both don't want that!

So, how can I buy from you and not have the GST applied to my order? Can you mod your system or invoice me? Perhaps?

Info:
https://www.business.gov.au/new-to-b...rvices-tax-gst
https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Inte...mported-goods/

Keen to know, as is every woodworker here in Australia.

Regards

Good WWF citizens.... am I wrong? Advice welcome.

Yeah I noticed the same thing with axminster. An 1100£ item seemingly had gst added as it was 1000£ if shipped to the UK (but without VAT). I emailed them about it but they didn't understand what I meant and responded that it must be the conversion rate their shipping agent charges; which isn't the case as I always pay in pounds not Aud (you pay a lot more from them in Au dollars as their conversion rate is very poor).

Interested to see what they say. I suspect they'll work it out eventually

Cheers, Dom

The goods will be shipped with an invoice reflecting the tax paid. Therefor no tax will be levied at border. It’s prettt simple guys..

Originally Posted by Enfield Guy

The goods will be shipped with an invoice reflecting the tax paid. Therefor no tax will be levied at border. It’s pretty simple guys..

Incorrect! You will still be levied by customs. If you pay the GST to the vendor on >$1k, you will still get whacked here. I have confirmed this with the ATO*.

Now, to the Axminster! As I suspected, they are right on top of it! Their response:

In regards to the GST on orders that are being sent to Australia with our new international partner (Global E) they now give our customers to option to pay the duties and taxes (for all non Eu countries) at the checkout or you can choose not to pay them and pay these when the goods are received by customs. When the duties and taxes are paid at the time of ordering, Global E take the payment on behalf of the customs office (of the country of destination) and then pay the monies directly to them.

As mentioned you do not have to pay the duties and taxes at the time of ordering and can choose to pay the these once the goods have been received by the Australian customs.

Kind regards

(redacted)
Export Specialist

* they wrote to me, upon query (I also asked about handling input credits), and confirmed that in fact you will pay GST on the entire amount... (Item + GST + postage) x 0.10 = AU GST... Ergo, you will pay GST on your GST. They care nought what you did or didn't pay overseas. They simply state "take it up with the vendor and seek to get a refund". Yeah, right. Now, it gets worse!.... for there is no means of recovering the "overpaid" AU GST even if you manage to get a refund from the overseas vendor.... On a $1k purchase, this will be $10, but for a big purchase it grows!

Edit!!! - it appears I've been misled! https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Inte...doubletaxation ....seems the clowns at the ATO can't get their own info right. I have no idea what's going on. Apologies EnfieldGuy.

Yup!

This BS if eBay can get itself sorted to charge GST from China why can’t Amazon
I’m an Amazon Prime account customer with Amazon credit and the rotters won’t ship a secondhand toymaking book from the USA to Australia; the book is only US$5. On the lousie Amazon Australia website they want A$155 for a new book.
Also tried to buy a new tool for US$174 and same deal but not available in Australia.
So much for the world free market economy.
Apologies ladies and gents for the rant but this is absolute crap!!
Cheers crowie

I dunno what's going on with the new GST rules. I just bought a genuine Toyota part from a bunch of Arabs in the UAE (Partsouq, if you really want to know).
The part cost me just under AU$40 including shipping by air (DHL, if you really want to know - and they only charge US$14.42 for all smaller parts).

The part arrived within 6 days from ordering, with no tax mentioned, and no tax deducted or billed - neither here, by any local authority, nor by Partsouq.

Might be, the ATO has suddenly started to realise the cost of extracting $5 or $10 on every piddly overseas purchase is going to cost more than what they are going to extract?
Funnily enough, the US places a figure of up to US$800 as the tax-free zone for imports. Only in Australia do we end up with bureaucracy charging us $5 in tax, and costing us $10 to collect it.

Why did I buy a small Toyota part from the Middle East and ship it in? Because it cost me under $40, and the local Toyota Stealers want $100 for it. I won't be stopping overseas purchases, any time soon - GST or no GST.

Originally Posted by onetrack

Might be, the ATO has suddenly started to realise the cost of extracting $5 or $10 on every piddly overseas purchase is going to cost more than what they are going to extract?

And that's the stupid thing about this whole GST on imports thing. If you buy something for $40 plus GST from an Australian business, then the business owner, who has been working for the Government as an unpaid tax collector since 1 July 2000 to collect the tax.will collect the $4 GST on the sale at no cost to the Government. But the way this new system is set up the tax collectors are employed and paid by the Government so it is no longer cost neutral. This should teach them that taxes like GST are also a large burden on the businesses that are forced to collect them for free too, but I doubt that will make any difference to them. The start of GST was the beginning of the end for many small businesses.