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

Originally Posted by HypnoToad

I would gladly pay the $4.80 as these are first rate bits at a fraction of the price of other name brand ones.

The GST angle of this has been covered by others - I'm just curious if I may be so bold as to trouble you for a link to these router bits?

My understanding was that customs, or any other agent/agency in Australia, would not collect gst or make a buyer have to pay gst. This would still only occur for items over $1000aud. The only way to pay gst on items less than $1000- is if the seller charges and accepts the gst on behalf of the Au government and then pays the gst to the tax department at the end of the year. Customs will still only stop and demand gst and duty for items over $1000-. Otherwise the cost and logistics required would be far too great.

Cheers, Dom

My understanding was that customs, or any other agent/agency in Australia, would not collect gst or make a buyer have to pay gst. This would still only occur for items over $1000aud. The only way to pay gst on items less than $1000- is if the seller charges and accepts the gst on behalf of the Au government and then pays the gst to the tax department at the end of the year. Customs will still only stop and demand gst and duty for items over $1000-. Otherwise the cost and logistics required would be far too great.

Cheers, Dom

So, Dom, are you saying that if the seller/manufacturer does not do >$75k business with Australia, and the packages are still <$1000 (on the day of dispatch, not the day of payment ) then GST will still not be charged? I had figured that they would just be stopped at the border and notices issued, as they will still be for >$1000.

That could be if so. My biggest suppliers would not be doing >$75k, and I am THE master of <$1000 packages.

A couple of years ago I made a purchase from the USA for about $8,000 au and arranged the freight through UPS.
Before it could leave Customs I had to pay the GST plus a few other charges totaling just over $1,000

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

So, Dom, are you saying that if the seller/manufacturer does not do >$75k business with Australia, and the packages are still <$1000 (on the day of dispatch, not the day of payment ) then GST will still not be charged? I had figured that they would just be stopped at the border and notices issued, as they will still be for >$1000.

That could be if so. My biggest suppliers would not be doing >$75k, and I am THE master of <$1000 packages.

Yes, unless I missed something in what I had read up until this point. Any business selling more than $75,000 of product to Australia will need to register for, and with-hold GST on ALL purchases. However, customs will only be stopping packages over $1000-AUD and asking for gst & duty as they always have (there is no way they can stop everything, they just don't have the resources). Thus, any businesses selling less than $75,000 per year to Australia will not withhold GST, and provided that your order is less than $1000-AUD it will still be GST free as always. This was definitely the case when I was reading about this several months to a year ago, but things may have changed. If so, somebody please correct me and point me to the ATO directive/info that says so.

Cheers,

Dom

Originally Posted by DomAU

Yes, unless I missed something in what I had read up until this point. Any business selling more than $75,000 of product to Australia will need to register for, and with-hold GST on ALL purchases. However, customs will only be stopping packages over $1000-AUD and asking for gst & duty as they always have (there is no way they can stop everything, they just don't have the resources). Thus, any businesses selling less than $75,000 per year to Australia will not withhold GST, and provided that your order is less than $1000-AUD it will still be GST free as always. This was definitely the case when I was reading about this several months to a year ago, but things may have changed. If so, somebody please correct me and point me to the ATO directive/info that says so.

Cheers,

Dom

Also, I, am THE MASTER of <$1000- packages. Just ask my family of credit cards...

Originally Posted by DomAU

Any business selling more than $75,000 of product to Australia will need to register for, and with-hold GST on ALL purchases.

No, definitely not the case. The ATO website is very clear that ">$1000 will have GST and Import Duty collected at the border - as always - regardless of who the vendor is" (that's not a direct quote, but close enough). We know that's the case because they go on to discuss what happens if the vendor insists on charging for >$1000 purchases. You have to get a refund from them and they get a refund from the ATO because it will still be collected at the border - even if you can prove it's already been paid. That is just one of the reasons I'm so cranky about this botched implementation.

The relevant link is in one of my earlier posts.....but it's 4.25am....

Just received an email from AliExpress saying they will collect 10% GST on all goods sold to AUS customers.

From 1 July 2018, Australian goods and services tax (GST) 10% will apply to each order valued at A$1,000 or less, and AliExpress is required by law to collect such GST and remit to Australian Taxation Office.

Ebay and Aliexpress cover about 99% of the numbers of my on-line purchases which hopefully means I won't be inconvenienced that much.

Originally Posted by BobL

Just received an email from AliExpress saying they will collect 10% GST on all goods sold to AUS customers.



Ebay and Aliexpress cover about 99% of the numbers of my on-line purchases which hopefully means I won't be inconvenienced that much.

So it now depends on whether they charge GST on the order value or the declared value, this will be interesting.

Originally Posted by HypnoToad

So it now depends on whether they charge GST on the order value or the declared value, this will be interesting.

I'm pretty sure it will be the order value. Customs and Excise have the power to order you to show them your credit card payment records for goods purchased. If you buy something from Aliexpress worth $100 and the declared valued shows $10 and they guess something different they will ask for your credit card statement showing the $10 payment record.

This happened to me 24 years ago when I bought some software from OS.

Of course they will only be able to make spot checks but they will do it enough to annoy a few customers to the point where the seller will comply.

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

I'm not expecting to hear from Shipito until at least June 30. They're good like that.

Well it's June 30th.....and still no word from the increasingly useless Shipito.....apart from some World Cup Special they have....

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

No, definitely not the case. The ATO website is very clear that ">$1000 will have GST and Import Duty collected at the border - as always - regardless of who the vendor is" (that's not a direct quote, but close enough). We know that's the case because they go on to discuss what happens if the vendor insists on charging for >$1000 purchases. You have to get a refund from them and they get a refund from the ATO because it will still be collected at the border - even if you can prove it's already been paid. That is just one of the reasons I'm so cranky about this botched implementation.

The relevant link is in one of my earlier posts.....but it's 4.25am....

Ok, here it is:
https://www.ato.gov.au/General/New-l...mported-goods/

The third para says:
The existing processes to collect GST on imports above $1,000 at the border are unchanged.

Originally Posted by BobL

I'm pretty sure it will be the order value. Customs and Excise have the power to order you to show them your credit card payment records for goods purchased. If you buy something from Aliexpress worth $100 and the declared valued shows $10 and they guess something different they will ask for your credit card statement showing the $10 payment record.

This happened to me 24 years ago when I bought some software from OS.

Of course they will only be able to make spot checks but they will do it enough to annoy a few customers to the point where the seller will comply.

Its going to be a nuisance for them with all the millions of small packages coming in from China if you ask me, my wife sometimes gets three or four at a time of things worth less than $10.00, I doubt they will bother trying to collect 50 cents for example and will only concentrate on the higher value imports.

Not saying I don't agree with it or would not want to pay it, but its going to be a major headache for them and it will probably be rescinded next election.

I purchased a new phone the other day which is being delivered from China. No GST was charged by the Australian based online retailer (phone was about $600).

The phone is due to arrive mid July. The ATO site states that goods purchased before 1st July do not attract GST even if they arrive in Australia after this date.

If this is correct there is going to be quite a crossover period where items purchased pre 1st July slowly find their way into Australia. Is the intention to stop every package and ask for confirmation as to when it was purchased before it is delivered?

This sounds like it’s going to be a giant balls up. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be a basic straight forward FAQ section that answers all of these basic questions for the average purchaser (not seller).