10%GST Online Purchasing

[au350hp]

From 1st July this year, all online purchases will attract a 10%GST. I have found in most cases it has been much cheaper to buy car parts I need online and even with a 10% increase, it will probably still be in many cases. Maybe a good idea to do the maths and buy up now if the saving is worth while. I think this tax is an answer to retail increasing 2% vs online's 18% rise. It's unfair in many ways, one been that online allows many the option of purchases they cannot physically buy themselves for a bunch of reasons. Just another kick in the guts to many people's living standard's.

[happy1]

Hi,
All purchases from Australian businesses already are subject to GST.
Are you referring to new rules for eBay etc. where the sales channel will add GST on behalf of private sellers?

Cheers

[wodahs]

Originally Posted by happy1

Hi,
All purchases from Australian businesses already are subject to GST.
Are you referring to new rules for eBay etc. where the sales channel will add GST on behalf of private sellers?

Cheers

nope
if you haven't heard they scraped the $1000 threshold and will be implementing the 10% on to every purchase
was meant to be last year but got deferred to this
just another happy hill slug to us so they can give big end a free'r ride

[RANGEREST]

Imported goods, but it's going to be hard to enforce.
http://www.ato.gov.au/General/New-le...mported-goods/

[simon varley]

so good old Gerry Harvey had a sook and got his way then? never mind - the stuff I buy on line is often 100% cheaper than what I can get it for locally so paying GST is still a massive saving.

[Burnout]

Originally Posted by simon varley

so good old Gerry Harvey had a sook and got his way then? never mind - the stuff I buy on line is often 100% cheaper than what I can get it for locally so paying GST is still a massive saving.

Good old Gerry Harvey had stuff all to do with it really. The Govt recognised and portion of the economy that hadn't been taxed by GST and went with it.
It is to their advantage that Harvey is a scapegoat....

[simon varley]

Originally Posted by Burnout

The Govt recognised and portion of the economy that hadn't been taxed by GST and went with it.

except that the customs agencies themselves admit it will cost more to collect the tax than they would receive back. they wanted to retain the threshold. there will be no net gain to government coffers.

[stevesgt]

Originally Posted by simon varley

so good old Gerry Harvey had a sook and got his way then? never mind - the stuff I buy on line is often 100% cheaper than what I can get it for locally so paying GST is still a massive saving.

Yep totally agree. One has to ask ones self what would you buy o/s from hardly normals any way. I will get a quote from them but refuse to buy any thing from them unless i need it there and then and cant get it any where else.

[Crazy Dazz]

Within Australia it depends on the individual business, whether they register for GST. Under the threshold it is optional. If you paying predominately for labour, eg something they made, (and little input credits) then yes, a GST registered business will charge you roughly 10% more.

For goods imported, the GST is collected by Customs. Previously they applied a $1,000 threshold which was often fraudulently exploited. That threshold is now gone.

The main changes (to imported GOODS only) are:

• No exemption for goods under $1,000
• Electronic Distributors will be treated as part of the supply chain and required to charge GST
• "Drop-Shippers" distributing imported goods will also be treated as part of the supply chain
• Overseas exporters to Australia will be able to register to collect and remit GST

This is not targetting "online" businesses, it is targetting overseas suppliers, and about bloody time.

[Interceptor]

Originally Posted by simon varley

except that the customs agencies themselves admit it will cost more to collect the tax than they would receive back. they wanted to retain the threshold. there will be no net gain to government coffers.

So the public takes it up the khyber for zero gain to the gubermint? how unusual....

Originally Posted by Crazy Dazz

This is not targetting "online" businesses, it is targetting overseas suppliers, and about bloody time.

Targeting overseas suppliers for what purpose?

When you can buy an Australian made part from the US and pay airfreight to get it here and still pay less than buying it locally, overseas suppliers aren't the problem.

[ljf12]

I wonder if it might be easier to collect the tax via paypal etc if it can recognize a foreign transaction.

[OzJavelin]

Hmm .. I build all my (American) vintage cars and (Japanese) vintage bike from imported second hand and NOS parts. Very few options to buy stuff here (eg. AMC Javelin parts). I'll be interested to see the effective change really is?

[mac_man_luke]

Be interesting to see how it goes as no doubt they will have to rely on the invoiced price on goods or declared values? use a re-shipper with a box opening service and there will be no invoice and only declared values?

Bet it costs more than $10 on a $100 purchase to collect said $10? or are we going to end up with a bunch of brokerage fees on items shipped in?

Or is it really only going to affect purchases from bigger companies that are easier to get on the side of charging the GST etc?

[ute83]

Originally Posted by mac_man_luke

Or is it really only going to affect purchases from bigger companies that are easier to get on the side of charging the GST etc?

That's what I thought was going to happen. Only a few of the larger online retailers.

[stefcio007]

When I buy something online the seller puts the "cost price" on the parcel. Last item was a 1/4 of what I paid so I'd only realistically be paying 2.5% GST.

If I'm already buying something that is 90% cheaper online, a 10% GST doesn't make a big difference. Just seems like wasted taxpayer money trying to collect it in the first place. Will this create a traffic jam for imports because they're all now going to be assessed for value?


So what happens if the government starts losing money by doing this after they realise they can't get enough GST? Can it?

Last time this came up it was discussed that online retail website would be blocked by the government if they didn't pay GST to Australia on goods sold and shipped here...

[Rallye Sport]

Will this apply to gifting? I have a 'very generous' aunt that buys my UK parts for me, avoiding the old import duty.

[Sabantien]

It's ridiculous.

The reason for not collecting the GST on items under 1k was it just isn't worth it. You spend more money than you collect.

This is going to cost the government far more than it makes, and poor ol' Gerry will still not be bought from because as many have said, 10% more is still 100% cheaper than buying locally.

I always tried to buy from Australian companies, and honestly, will still do so if it's more convenient, but after waiting 3 months for an item to arrive to the Australian business I was purchasing from (they originally said a week) well, I could have bought it from the USA and had it in 3 days. AND paid hundreds less, even if it did cost 10% more.

[Brazen]

Even if it doesn’t net a gain, it will at least level the playing field. Silly local operators have to charge 10% GST but if youre based overseas you get off scot free

[simon varley]

Originally Posted by Brazen

Even if it doesn’t net a gain, it will at least level the playing field. Silly local operators have to charge 10% GST but if youre based overseas you get off scot free

10% is irrelevant when comparing o/s online sales to local. I'm okay with the concept of everyone paying the same taxes. it makes the 50% or more markup the local businesses apply even more obvious.

[davenl5l]

50% markup is quite reasonable up to a certain price point and the you will find most businesses reduce it on a sliding scale. As a example a $100 part,firstly you have to pay a employee to look up a part no.then phone or email to order the part.this also involes paying for a phone system,computdr system and internet.Then if you are lucky the part is shipped then you have to pay someone to unpack the part,check it off the invoice and then enter the invoice onto your point of sale system. All this happens in a building that you pay rent for along with power,water,insurance,alarm +monitoring, staff amenities (unless you have run a business you have no concept of how much poo paper,coffee,tea and milk etc.staff go through because it's free). Then there are wages,super,workcover freight and the list goes on but hey that $5 profi6is outrages.

[simon varley]

the foreign company has to do all those things too. they can still deliver the goods and parts significantly cheaper than a local store.

[ljf12]

Worked for Customs 25 years ago, impossible then to assess/charge duty and tax correctly (volume,falsely described goods etc).

To physically inspect, assess, question importers when required considering the amount of goods entering the country now you would need a massive workforce, and there will still be items undervalued etc.

Unless you are sending cash overseas in an envelope (or something similar) for your items, as per my earlier post maybe there could be a system where paypal etc collects the gst.

[davenl5l]

Originally Posted by simon varley

the foreign company has to do all those things too. they can still deliver the goods and parts significantly cheaper than a local store.

You buy a part for 100 plus freight from the us and a business wil get the same part for 90 plus freight and then has all the overheads so your argument has no basis in the real world

[Cheech]

As a I understand it.......

Customs & ATO have set the system up so that they do the least amount of work to collect the GST.

O/S supplier will be responsible for collecting and remitting GST if they are large enough (eg Amazon)

In the event that the supplier refuses to collect GST or is under a 75k threshold, then this will be picked up by either the importer or their broker paying GST upon import.

Due to the increase in small parcel international commerce, we are no longer talking about a small amount of money to be collected.

[Romulus]

Originally Posted by Roostercam

From 1st July this year, all online purchases will attract a 10%GST. I have found in most cases it has been much cheaper to buy car parts I need online and even with a 10% increase, it will probably still be in many cases. Maybe a good idea to do the maths and buy up now if the saving is worth while. I think this tax is an answer to retail increasing 2% vs online's 18% rise. It's unfair in many ways, one been that online allows many the option of purchases they cannot physically buy themselves for a bunch of reasons. Just another kick in the guts to many people's living standard's.

Maybe if there was pricing parity between countries this wouldn't be an issue. A Ford Ranger XLT 3.2 A6 cost ~$40k in Cebu, Philippines, the same vehicle here is ~$54k. I'm not suggesting I can buy a Ranger from Philippines, but car parts, electronic items, consumer goods, clothing and so on can be purchased online from overseas much cheaper.

As a registered and frequent user of Alibaba I'm sure there will be a workaround.

[Bill M]

What was in my mail box this morning...

Dear bill

As a result of changes to Australian GST law, on 1 July 2018 Amazon’s international shopping options for Australian customers will change.

While we regret any inconvenience this may cause, from 1 July we will be redirecting Australian customers from our international Amazon sites to amazon.com.au where you can shop for products sold by Amazon US on the new Amazon Global Store, available today. We have taken this step to provide our customers with continued access to international selection and allow us to remain compliant with the law which requires us to collect and remit GST on products sold on Amazon sites that are shipped from overseas.

Amazon Global Store will allow Australian customers to shop on amazon.com.au for over four million items that were previously only accessible on amazon.com. This selection is in addition to the more than 60 million products that are already available on amazon.com.au across 23 categories, including books, fashion, toys, and electronics.

To welcome you to amazon.com.au, and thank you for choosing to shop with us, we are offering you a $20 voucher to redeem against your next purchase on amazon.com.au of items sold and shipped by Amazon AU. Just include your unique promotional code below at checkout when purchasing eligible items (see full terms and conditions below).

Thank you for choosing to shop with Amazon.

[Fed]

I got the same email Bill, it looks like amazon has pulled the plug on our access to the US site.
I wonder what will happen to the couple of hundred books I have stored in the amazon cloud?
Starting to think about downloading my 'paid for' music from google now.

[wodahs]

Originally Posted by Fed

I got the same email Bill, it looks like amazon has pulled the plug on our access to the US site.
I wonder what will happen to the couple of hundred books I have stored in the amazon cloud?
Starting to think about downloading my 'paid for' music from google now.

my understanding is that it wont apply to digital purchases as you don't actually get a physical object

and I wonder how amazon would handle a purchase thru a vpn proxy setup where they don't know where your purchasing from , only the delivery address

[cheap]

This current federal government is utterly without scruples and devoid of political nous, I have come to the opinion that Turnbull is purposely steering the ship into oblivion.

The Australian Public pays taxes on the money we earn, we then pay taxes on the purchases we make. Meanwhile many big corporations (especially the foreign corporations) don't pay their fair taxes and the same utterly useless government wants to given them a further tax cut.

In response we now get slugged with an new online tax !

[stevesgt]

Originally Posted by cheap

This current federal government is utterly without scruples and devoid of political nous, I have come to the opinion that Turnbull is purposely steering the ship into oblivion.

The Australian Public pays taxes on the money we earn, we then pay taxes on the purchases we make. Meanwhile many big corporations (especially the foreign corporations) don't pay their fair taxes and the same utterly useless government wants to given them a further tax cut.

In response we now get slugged with an new online tax !

We are not allowed to prosper. The labour party is far left the libs are left. Dont believe me well you know when things are are so f up when mark lakem starts marking sence. They turning australia in to greece so we will be bailed out by the world (new one world order) bank. We want have any say in what we wish we be taken over . When to t he left of me is coal trains exporting our coal to the rest of ghe world china and to the right of me is over sized liiafs taking wind turbine parts to the new england , thats used our coal and iron ore. Agl going to disable a plant in the hunter and hold us all to ramson so they can get part of the over 60 billion dolloar subitites that going off sxhore. By the way you ever gone past a wind turbine fram and seen them all stopped with exeption of maybe one our two. They taken power from the grid to turn them. And tgey are approx less than 19% efficiency but you wonder why your powe r is the highest in the world and why you paying 10% on stuff from over seas now anf they said yesterday that if you book a hotel on your next trip from australia you will have to pay gst on that as well
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